Echos of Eras Past
by Zombie Boy
Summary: Meet the Courier, a woman named Molly, a woman with a past, and watch as she and Boone partner up on their missions of revenge- and manage to change the Wasteland.
1. Chapter 1

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

"_American Woman, don't need your war machine's_

_Find someone else's dream"_

_American Woman,_ by The Guess Who

Oo000oo000oO

Chapter One

Oo000oo000oO

Pausing to catch her breath and take a swig of water from her canteen, Molly scanned the moonlit horizon and exhaled tiredly. It had been a very long day for her, and judging by how that large concrete dinosaur slash snipers nest on the horizon, she had at least an hour and a half to go.

Assuming, of course, that she didn't run into anything predatory on the way. Like that camp of raiders she'd stumbled across around sunset. That had been annoying to say the least.

"_Got armor and ammo out of it at least." _Molly mused to herself, glancing down at the spiky metal armor she was clad in. _"Better ventilation too... better than that damn Vault Suit." _

Molly frowned as she screwed the cap back onto her canteen and started walking again along the cracked and buckled remains of Highway 95 towards Novac.

Molly scowled and reached up to scratch at the bandages covering a patch on the left side of her head.

"_Benny, you are gonna fucking _die._" _ Molly thought, a growl bubbling up through her throat.

Benny. Yes, that gaudily dressed man was going to die for what he did. Nobody shot her in the head and got away with it. When she found him, she was going to take that scrimshawed Hi-Power of his, shove it up his ass, and empty the magazine.

As for those Khans that had been with him, all she wanted from them was her rifle and pistol back. She had rather liked that 10mm...

Her musings were cut short when she heard the scrabbling of clawed feet on pebbled ground. Instantaneously, her rifle was up and shouldered as the first Gecko came boiling out from out from behind a boulder.

The green tritium dot settled in between the two on the rear leaf, aligning perfectly with the Gecko's gaping maw as it came scrabbling towards her. Squeezing the trigger, she sent a 75 grain boat tail through it's left eye and into it's brain.

Racking the bolt on her rifle, she shifted her aim as two more came following hot on the heels of the first one. Two quick shots later, Molly found herself standing over three fresh Blue Gecko corpses.

Taking a breath, she exhaled and lowered her rifle.

"Oh well." she said as she slung her rifle. "At least they're not Golden Gecko's"

Oo000oo000oO

Boone's brow furrowed as he made out a figure walking on the road.

"_The hell..."_ he thought as something caught his eye, and cranked up the magnification on his scope up to 12 power.

It took him a moment to reacquire his target, and when he did, Boone confirmed that what he had seen was true: the figure was wearing a First Recon beret.

"_Huh. First Recon." _he thought as he leveled the cross hairs on the figure. _"What's your story?"_

Boone followed her through his scope as she approached Novac. As she approached, he noted that she was very pale, with what looked like a _blueish_ complexion, but he marked it off as distortion from the scope.

When she got into town, she talked with the traveling doctor for a few moments, then headed for the motel office. He heard her enter the office, reemerge a few minutes later, then walk up the the steps to her room.

"_Huh."_ he thought as he resumed his scanning of the Mojave through his scope. _"I'll ask Jeanne-May which room's hers in the morning." _

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the motel room and she paused to take in her surroundings and make contingency plans. She hadn't lived as long as she had by being sloppy.

"Well, this is four star, isn't it?" she asked herself and started to unbuckle her pack.

Dropping her pack on the floor with a 'thump', her rifle and gun belt followed suit. Leaning the rifle against the wall next to the bed, she sat down on the bed and checked her ammo.

"Okay, forty six rounds of .223 hunting ammo and six rounds of 5.56, for a total of fifty two rounds." she muttered under her breath as she tallied her ammunition. "And twenty nine rounds of 9mm."

Drumming her fingers on the bed, Molly frowned. This was not anywhere near the amount of ammunition she was comfortable with.

Well, actually, she had no _real _shortage of ammo if you were going to be technical about it. She had an extra two hundred and fifty rounds of ammo in the bottom of her pack- in .308 and 10mm, respectively.

Her frown deepened as that brought back the memories of when Benny and his Khan butt buddies had ambushed her. She had just passed Goodsprings, and was walking up the hill that their cemetery was located on when they got her.

Normally, she would have heard them a mile away and either avoided them or (most likely) sneak up on them and kill them. But in this case, she'd been distracted by the valley full of radscorpions that she had been keeping an ear on.

One thing was for sure though- she'd lucked out when they'd jumped her. When they'd hit her, her pack had rolled down into the valley and they had understandably not gone after it.

Since they hadn't did that, they weren't able to go through it and find her First Recon beret. If they had found it, Molly was damn sure that she wouldn't have left that hole.

Wincing, she rubbed her eyes and realized that she was damn tired. Even though her stamina was considerably higher than average, the last couple of days had pushed her to her limits.

"Fuck, I'm tired." she said to no one in particular, and glanced over at the teddy bear lying face down at the foot of the bed.

"Hey, Mr Bear, you mind if I share your bed?" she asked, poking the bear with the muzzle of her pistol.

Smirking in tired amusement, she peeled off her underclothes, turned off the light, and lay down, one hand still clutching her Hi-Power.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's eyes snapped open to the sound of someone pounding on her motel room door and instinctively she flipped over onto her back and had her pistol leveled at the door. It took her a moment for her to realize that if someone was trying to break in and kill her, they wouldn't be just knocking on her door.

Exhaling noisily, she rolled out of bed and got to her feet. "I'm coming!" she yelled as her unknown caller pounded again.

Walking up to her door, she stood next to it, pistol at the ready. "Who is it?" she asked, finger resting lightly on the trigger.

"Boone." a some what gruff male voice answered on the other side of the door. "I want to talk to you."

"About what?" Molly challenged.

"About why a First Recon is out wandering the desert." the voice answered.

Molly scowled for second, then it clicked into place. Novac was guarded by a pair of sharpshooters, both former First Recon. Mentally cursing, she shook her head and wiped a few strands of hair out of her eyes.

"_Fucking Benny."_ she thought sourly about how the tackily dressed casino head's shooting her had rendered her normally quick thinking slightly fuzzy.

"Hold on." she told the guy on the other side of the door and began to unlock it.

When she opened the door she found a stern faced, well muscled man in cargo pants, a graying white undershirt, and combat boots, with the red beret of First Recon and a pair of aviator sunglasses rounding out the picture.

When he saw her, the man paused for a second, then arched an eyebrow. "You certainly know how to put a man at ease." he said.

Molly blinked a couple of times, then rolled her eyes as realized that she had answered the door without a stitch of clothing on.

"What? You never seen a naked woman before?" she asked.

Molly noticed the dark look that flickered over Boone's face when she said that. There was trauma associated with her comment, and she filed that away for possible use later.

"Yes." he said, trying to keep his voice flat (and failing).

"That's good." Molly said. "Look, you mind waiting half an hour while I clean up and get dressed?"

"Fine by me." Boone said.

Oo000oo000oO

Thirty five minutes later Molly stepped out of her motel room, bathed and dressed in her newly acquired metal armor. Outside her door she found Boone sitting on the balcony, with his back against the railing.

"Okay." she said as Boone got to his feet. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I hold the night watch here." Boone began. "And I saw that when you came in last night that you were wearing a First Recon beret." he added, tapping the one perched on his own head for emphasis.

"Yeah." Molly said, her face calm, not showing any of the thoughts racing through her head. "You could say that I was one."

Boone nodded once, accepting her explanation with out question. Molly filed that interesting tidbit away for further investigation.

"Good." Boone said. "I need someone I can trust."

There was a _'ding'_ in the back of her mind as a little red flag went up. In her experience, when someone said that, it meant that they needed something done. Usually bloody- and profitable.

"With what?" Molly asked.

"My wife is dead." Boone explained.

In the back of her mind, Molly could hear the sound of bottle caps. "She is?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Yeah." Boone said. "The legion took her."

All of a sudden the sound of caps were replaced with a warning klaxon. "The Legion?" she asked cautiously. "You want to go up against the Legion?"

"No, nothing like that." Boone said with a shake of his head. "Legion slavers took her. And I know someone around here helped them."

And then things clicked into place. "And you don't know who to trust around here, because it could be anyone."

"Exactly." Boone said. "So I decided that the only one I could trust is a stranger."

"Aand that's where I come in." Molly said.

"Yeah." Boone confirmed. "So, are you in?"

For a few seconds Molly considered Boone's offer. On one hand, the NCR wanted her dead thanks to what she had did in her past, and if Boone ever learned of who she truly was and what she had did, she had no doubt in her mind that he either turn her in or try to put a bullet in her head himself.

On the other hand, he was looking for the SOB who had sold his wife out to the Legion, and while she was no angel, there was no way in hell that she'd ever do anything like _that._

"Yeah." she said. "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

"I just need you to lead the person who did out by the bridge in front of the dinosaur." Boone said, describing his plan. "When you get them out there, signal me by putting your beret on."

"Right." Molly said. "When do you go on shift?"

"Sundown." Boone answered her.

"Okay then." Molly said. "I'll go ask around."

Oo000oo000oO

"_Well, that was a entertaining twenty minutes."_ Molly thought as she wandered away from No-Bark.

The man known as No-Bark, was, in her unprofessional opinion, completely out of his gorramed mind. But as had been mentioned before, he was at least entertaining.

For the past hour and a half, she had been asking around the town of Novac about Boone's wife, and No-Bark aside, she had been able to pick up a few things about her. For instance, she had found out that his wife had apparently didn't there.

She'd also been asking the other residents about the town itself, and she'd heard a few interesting tidbits about Jeanne-May and had decided that it was high time that she had a chat with her.

The bell chimed as Molly pushed the door open and strode into the lobby.

"Hey." she said as she approached the desk.

"OH, hello there." Jeanne-May said, marking her place in the trashy romance novel she had been reading. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"I got a few questions I'd like to bounce off ya." Molly said, leaning against the counter.

"Oh, well, ask away!" Jeanne-May said cheerfully.

"What's up with Boone?" Molly asked. "He seems really moody."

"Oh, _that_." Jeanne-May said with a wave of her hand. "It's about his wife."

Molly got an interested look on her face, the look of a gossip who had just heard something particularly juicy- though in her case it was confirming someone's doom.

"Oh, what about her?" Molly asked.

"Well, she was never happy here." Jeanne-May began. "He says that she's dead, but I know what happened. She decided to run off to better pastures..."

"Do tell." Molly said as a cash register rang in the back of her mind.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone had just gotten on shift and the last rays of the of the sunset were hemorrhaging on the mountains when he noticed that new girl in town- Molly, that was her name- come walking along the street towards the bridge with Jeanne- May. Idly he watched them, and as they neared the bridge he saw Molly put her beret on.

Shouldering his rifle, Boone settled into a crouch and eased the cross hairs of his scope onto Jeanne-May's head.

"_So that's who it was..." _Boone thought as his finger caressed the trigger.

There was a sharp kick, the cross hairs jumped, and Jeanne-May's head exploded. Lowering his rifle, he saw Molly stand up from Jeanne-May's corpse, dusted something off of her shoulder, and walked towards the office.

Oo000oo000oO

Flicking an eyeball off of her pauldron, Molly strode towards the office of the Novac Motel and walked in. Letting the door swing back into place behind her, she walked around to the far side of the counter and approached the safe embedded in the floor.

Twisting the key in the lock, she opened it and rifled through the contents, which were almost 1,100 in caps and a bill of sale written out on a yellowing sheet of paper. Pocketing the caps, she scanned the paper

"lets see here..." Molly murmured as she read the paper. "Bill of sale, for the woman and delivery of healthy child..."

Scowling, Molly slapped the door to the safe shut. "Jeanne-May, you heartless _bitch_." she growled, getting to her feet.

Walking out of the office with quick strides, she headed straight for Dinky. Going inside, she headed straight up the stairs for the snipers nest. Going through the door she found Boone waiting for her.

"So, it's done." he said.

"Yeah." Molly agreed.

"So, how did you know?" Boone asked.

"This." Molly said, and handed Boone the bill of sale.

Boone took the proffered piece of paper and read it, a scowl darkening his face.

"Figures." he muttered. "They would keep paperwork."

"So now what are you going to do?" Molly asked.

Boone shrugged. "Wander the wasteland I guess. I don't know." he answered simply. "I know I'm not staying here."

For the life of her, Molly didn't know why she did what she did next.

"Why not come with me?" she offered. "You want to get lost for a while, and I'm looking for the guy who shot me, so I have the feeling that I'll be going all over the place."

Boone considered her offer for a moment, then arched a questioning eyebrow at her. "You sure?" he asked.

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said. "It'd be nice to have backup."

Oo000oo000oO

Dawn's first blush was coloring the horizon when Molly knocked on Boone's door. After a few moments she heard the sound of footfalls padded up to the door as Boone checked to see who it was, followed by a pause, then there was the sound of the deadbolt being thrown.

"Morning." Boone grunted.

"Good mor_ning_." Molly said cheerfully. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Boone grunted again in reply. "Give me a sec."

"Kay." Molly said, and spent a few moments waiting outside Boone's door tapping her foot.

Boone reappeared moments later with his pack on his shoulders and his rifle slung.

"Alright, lets go." Boone said, shutting the door behind him. "So, where are we going?" he asked as they started walking.

"REPCONN." Molly answered as they passed through the parking lot gate. "Got a ghoul problem, apparently."

Boone grunted, then tapped Molly on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Molly asked.

"Why are we going to REPCONN?" Boone asked as they took a right.

"I told you, it's got a ghoul problem-" Molly started to say but Boone interrupted her.

"No, why are we going there to deal with them?" Boone asked as they started walking towards the REPCONN facility.

"Information." Molly answered.

Boone grunted. "What are you looking to find?"

"There?" Molly asked. "Nothing. But Manny Vargas knows where Benny went, and he'll tell me after we clean it out."

The irritated sound grunt made Molly look over her shoulder.

"That gonna be a problem?" she asked.

"No." Boone said. "It's just Manny and I have some issues."

"Oh." Molly said. She'd seen the look that had came in Manny's eyes when the subject of Boone had came up, and she'd bet caps on what it was about: They batted for opposite teams.

Not that she had a problem with that- she was you could call a free agent.

"Well, in that case you can wait outside while I talk to him." Molly said and turned her attention back to the road.

Boone's answering grunt was cut off as a green humanoid figure came cresting over hill, running straight at them.

"He's mine." Boone said as he unslung his rifle.

Molly deliberately pulled her reactions and allowed Boone to get the shot on the Glowing One. Her purpose was twofold: One, it allowed her to get a better grasp of Boone's abilities, and two, she was concealing what _her _capabilities were as so to pass as a regular human.

Boone was way too young to remember some of her past exploits, and she would have remembered someone as charming as him from her time at Camp Golf -but, if it's one thing troopers liked to do, it was tell stories. And she was reasonably sure that her exit from Camp Golf and the First Recon had generated a lot of stories, stories that Boone was sure to have heard, if only in passing. And the last thing she wanted to happen was for him to figure out who she was.

Boone's rifle cracked as she brought hers to her shoulder, and she watched as the ghouls head exploded.

"Nice shot." she commented.

"Thanks." Boone said. "Why didn't you have him?"

"You try getting shot in the head and see what your reflexes are like." Molly shot back, pointing to the bandages on the left side of her face.

Boone was quite capable at using grunting as a means of communication, Molly noted.

They trudged on.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors note: And now I begin yet another story. I must be out of my gorramed mind... anyways, read and review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_We are the angels_

_Of a million stars_

_Letting all_

_Balance upon_

_Our shoulders_

_Bending to break_

_Then giving more_

_Whispering_

_Tiredly in our ears_

_The thousands of sins_

_Given a place_

_Among the ashes_

_Of the Phoenix wings_

_Push_

_And then_

_You'll bend more_

_To Sleep through the Sun,_by Jessica Thompson.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly sighed as she glassed the approach to the REPCONN facility.

"Well?" Boone asked.

"There's about four or five ferals in the plaza, and I think theres a couple more up by the building, but we got a bad angle on those." Molly explained as she lowered her field glasses.

Boone grunted in acknowledgment. Molly on the other hand, was looking up at the cliff towering above them.

"You see something?" Boone asked.

"Yeah." Molly answered. "A better shooting position. How are you at free climbing?"

Boone looked up at the cliff above them and growled irritably. "I fucking hate it." he said. "But I can do it."

"Good." Molly said and unslung her pack. "I'll go first."

Oo000oo000oO

Half an hour later, they were on top of the cliff over looking REPCONN and lying prone near the edge. Boone had his rifle and Molly had her field glasses out.

As she ran her binoculars over the area and they settled on an old wrecked Corvega parked near the foot of the stairs- with all of the ferals milling around.

"Boone." Molly said.

"Yeah?" Boone asked.

"Borrow your rifle?" Molly asked.

Boone looked at her for a second, then handed her the rifle and she handed him her binoculars.

"Here." he said.

Taking the rifle from Boone, she used her pack as a rest and sighted in on the car. Easing the cross hairs onto the rear deck lid, Molly took a breath and slowly let it out as she squeezed the trigger.

The sear broke half a heartbeat before she felt kick from the recoil. Down range, the _clang_ of the 147 grain boat tail impacting the deck lid mixed with the muzzle report.

Through the binoculars, Boone watched as the ferals surrounding the car jumped at the noise, and he was about to say something when the car went up in a flash, the report of the explosion thumping them half a second later.

Retraining his binoculars onto the car, Boone saw that there were four dead ferals lying around the car, and a fifth one running around looking for the source of the noise. Next to him, he heard his rifle bark again and the ghoul's head exploded.

Quickly, he scanned the rest of the area and caught the movement as two ghouls came out from under the eaves of the building out into the open.

"Two on the porch, nearing the stairs." Boone said, his voice calm and professional.

Molly acknowledged him by firing twice, and the two ghouls went down minus their heads.

"Nicely done." Boone praised and handed Molly back her binoculars.

"Thanks." Molly said as she returned his rifle. "Now lets get down there and roll the bodies."

Oo000oo000oO

The lobby was an expanse of cracked and peeling paint, crumbling plaster, dust, and the general decay of a building neglected for over the last two hundred years. Nor were they alone in the lobby- there was a dead blue skinned super mutant lying in front of them, and off to one side by the receptionists desk was a dead ghoul wearing what looked like a monk's robe.

"_Nightkin. Interesting." _Molly thought, then shifted her gaze to the dead ghoul. _"So what was going on here? A __ghoulified__ monastery?" _

Any further thoughts on this were cut off when an intercom crackled to life.

"Hey, over here!" a gravelly ghoul voice said, issuing from a speaker box on the wall. "Go to the big room on the east side of the building and take the metal staircase all the way up. And _hurry!_"

"What the hell?" Molly and Boone said simultaneously as they whirled around to face the intercom "Who the hell are you?" Molly asked.

"Who I am doesn't matter, smoothskin." the voice snapped "Stop wasting time and get up here!"

The intercom clicked off and the hissing of multiple echoed through the building immediately afterwards.

"Oh, fucking hell.'' Molly said as the somewhat squishy pounding of bare feet signaled that they had feral ghouls closing in on their position.

Neither one of them had a chance to say anything more, because at that moment a feral came crashing through a door, the dry rotted wood splintering into million pieces.

Molly's gun was up and firing as it was starting to turn to face them. Behind her Boone's rifle went off with a concussive bang, the report of the .308 in an enclosed space making her brain rattle.

Thankfully, her hearing was largely unaffected by the blast and it cleared after a second. Mentally, she thanked the appropriate entities and kept her gun up and her senses sharp.

Which came in handy a second later as two more ghouls came charging into the room and a third one appeared on the balcony above them.

"BOONE! BALCONY!" shouted Molly as she engaged the the closest of the two on their level.

The first ghoul was crumpling to the ground as she shifted her aim to the second one, the tritium dot settling underneath the ghouls eyes. She fired, right as Boone fired at the feral on the balcony. Both reports mingled together and both ghouls fell dead to the floor.

"Well now..." Molly said, dropping the mag from her Hi Power and inserting a fresh one. "This is gonna be _fun_."

"Yeah." Boone said, thumbing in fresh rounds into his rifle.

Oo000oo000oO

Fifty minutes later, several dead ghouls, and some rather good loot later, They found them selves at the top of the stairs facing the door that the ghoul on the intercom had told them to go to.

"You ready?" Molly asked Boone. He grunted in reply, and Molly pressed the talk button on the intercom set into the wall near the door.

"Hey, we're here." Molly said into the intercom.

"All right smoothskin's, I'm letting you in. You two had better watch yourselves." a gravelly ghoul's voice said. "I'll sure as hell be watching _you_."

"Gee, thanks." Molly said.

The bolts on the door clunked open and it swung open to reveal... a bald man. A bald _human_ man.

"_WTF?" _echoed through Molly's mind as she took a look at him. "Hi." was what she said. "Who are you?"

"Chris Haverson." the man said in the same gravelly voice as on the intercom.

"_And things just get weirder..."_ thought Molly.

"I'm Molly, and this is Boone." she said, introducing herself and her companion.

Chris growled and pointed down the hall behind him. "Come on. Jason Bright wants to talk to you."

"He's the one in charge then?" Molly asked as they started walking down the hall.

"Yeah, smoothskin." Haverson replied. "He's our Prophet, leading us on our Great Journey to the Far Beyond."

"Oh." Molly said as they turned a corner and came into the main area. _"Not a monastery. Cult."_ she thought as she saw several ghouls, all dressed in the same robes. _"Lovely."_

"Hey." Molly said as they crossed the room into another hallway. "I got a question for ya."

"What is it, smoothskin?" Haverson asked.

"Whats a human doing running around with a bunch of ghouls?" Molly asked.

Haverson stopped, turned, and looked at Molly.

"What are you trying to pull, smoothskin?" Haverson said accusingly. "You think you just make fun of a ghoul?"

Molly arched an eyebrow at him. "Uh, no, you're _not_ a ghoul." she countered. "You're human, just like Boone and I are."

The man who thought he was a ghoul gave her an annoyed look.

"You're just like the people back in the vault!" Haverson said, building up steam for his rant. "Who do we need to work on our reactor? Why not Haverson? He likes working on machines! He won't mind getting irradiated! He wont mind it when his hair falls out!"

Molly reared back slightly from the force of the mans rant.

"Whoa, settle down there guy!" she said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "First of all, I'm not teasing you."

"You're not?" Haverson said, his tone suspicious.

"Secondly, just because you're hair's falling out and you happen to be working in a Vaults reactor spaces, does not mean that you're becoming a ghoul." Molly pointed out to him.

Haverson shook his head at her. "You're crazy, you know that, smoothskin?" he said and turned around. "Come on."

Oo000oo000oO

Jason Bright was their second surprise of the day: he was a ghoul who had partially transformed into a Glowing One.

"Greetings, outsiders." Bright said as he stood up.

"_Interesting__ voice."_ Molly thought when she heard him speak, the odd echoing resonance of it making her want to arch her eyebrows.

"Hi." Molly said. "We're here on the behest of Novac." she said.

"The town that's east of us?" Bright asked.

Molly nodded. "Yeah, them." she said. "One of the main sources of income for them is salvage from this facility."

Bright sighed and looked at the floor. "First, the demons, now you come demanding we leave. The Creator-"

"Wait, you said demons." Molly interrupted. "Thats those Super Mutants we found downstairs, right?"

"Yes." Bright said. "They attacked us during our services, appearing literally out of thin air, and killed many of our followers. We fought bravely, but they forced us into here, and then one of them raved at us for hours over the intercom."

"And they're still here, I'm imagining, judging by how your guy Haverson was wanting us to get in here so quickly." Molly said. She got another nod from Bright and nodded. "Where are they?"

"The basement." Bright told her. "They're living down there."

Molly smiled as an idea came to her. "Good. I have a proposal." she said.

"A proposal?" Bright asked. "What kind of proposal?"

"We kill all of your 'demons', and then the way out is clear for you guys to relocate somewhere where you will not be interfering with Novac's economy." Molly elaborated. "Or you can work out an arrangement with the town so they get their salvage and you guys can do whatever it is you're doing here."

"Leaving will not be an issue." Bright said. "For as soon as the demons are gone, we can undertake work to begin the Great Journey, and journey to the-"

Molly cleared her throat "Ah, yeah." she said. "Just because I'm curious, how _are_ you going to get there?" she asked. "To the Far Beyond, I mean?"

"We plan to use the rockets here to get there." Bright answered. "The Far Beyond is a place of energy and healing, far from here."

"You're going into space?" Molly asked.

"Yes."

"What about your science guy?" she asked. "He's not exactly what you would call, 'rad proofed', you know."

"Chris." Bright said with a sigh. "Yes. He is truly unique among us. When he came to us years ago, we tried to convince him that he was imagining things, but it was fruitless. We finally came to see him as a blessing from the creator, and accepted him among us."

"And will he be coming with you?" Molly inquired.

Bright shook his head. "No, sadly, he will have to stay behind. The launch pad is far too irradiated for him to come with us" he said sadly. "We have decided that he will be named a saint of the Great Journey, and we will remember him fondly..."

"_In other words, too bad, so sad, Chris." _Molly thought. "So you're using him." she said to Bright.

"No, no, no..." Bright protested. "We're not using him. He's staying with us out of his own will, and we have nothing to trick him or deceive him..."

"I'm sure." Molly said, thinking _"And I wonder just how hard you tried..." _

"Anyways, we've got a bunch of Super Mutants to take care of, so we had better get going."she added.

Bright nodded and they took their leave of the place.

Oo000oo000oO

"You sure you want to do this?" Boone asked as soon as they were out of the Bright Followers safe area.

"You want a group of Super Mutants taking up residence next to Novac?" Molly countered.

"I really don't care about Novac." Boone replied truthfully. "But are you sure you want to do this?" he asked again.

"Yeah." Molly confirmed. "How much you know about the early history of the NCR?" she asked. "Specifically, the Master, and his army?"

Boone shrugged. "Not much, just the basics." he replied. "I know he was a supermutant who was building an army to take over the world, or something like that."

"_Close enough, I suppose."_ Molly thought. _"No need to correct him and explain how I happen to know that information..."_

"Well, you could say that I'm a history buff." Molly began. "And I know what kind of supermutant is down there. They're called Nightkin, they use Stealth Boys-" she dug one out of her pocket to show to Boone as an example "and because prolonged use with these things induces schizophrenia in people, they're all nuttier than squirrel shit."

"Oh." was Boone's response.

"Yeah, oh." Molly said as they approached the basement stairs. "And ain't that just a sight to behold?" she asked, looking at the massive pool of blood in front of the door.

Oo000oo000oO

The basement door swung open and Molly carefully swept the room with her pistol before quietly stepping into the room, followed by Boone.

"So, what exactly am I supposed to be looking for?" Boone asked in whisper.

Molly took another look around the room and glanced back at Boone. Other than the consoles, burn barrels, and makeshift bedding, they were alone

"Okay, if you see an eight foot tall patch of heat mirage right in front of you, you can be pretty sure that it's one of them." she explained.

Boone nodded, then they both froze as the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down a hall towards them. Molly pointed at the only other door in the room other than the one that they had just came through, and then ducked behind a console that would allow her a view of the door.

Looking behind her, Molly saw Boone crouching behind another console, out of view of the door. Holding up her hand in a "wait' gesture, Molly turned back to watching the door.

The footsteps kept getting louder, until is sounded like whatever was making them was almost right in front of the doorway. She licked her lips as the air shimmered in then doorway, then passed.

Reaching into a pouch, she pulled her 9mm and padded over to the door frame. Peeking out, she saw the shimmering mass just ahead of her in the hallway the door opened out into. Looking the other way down the hall, she saw that it looked clear and stepped out very carefully.

Silently she padded down the hall, Boone quietly following her.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone watched as Molly stalked down the hall towards the large shimmering mass walking down the hall. As they closed with it, he noticed how she walked, rolling her steps and placing her weight on the outside of her feet.

"_I wonder where she learned how to do _that_?"_ he thought. _"That's a Ranger trick."_

As they closed in on the Nightkin, Boone started to shift over to Molly's right and reached back to unsling his rifle.

"_Where did she learn-" _

Oo000oo000oO

'CLANK'!

Oo000oo000oO

Time slowed as Molly fired while the Nightkin uncloaked and whirled around, swinging a club made out of a chunk reinforced concrete while her bullet grazed the Nightkin's neck and _spanged_ off of the concrete ceiling.

Out of the corner of her eye Molly saw the chunk of concrete coming down at her in a diagonal arc, and her reflexes kicked in. She shifted her weight to her right foot and neatly spun out of the way as the club head came down, completing her spin as the club hit the floor where she had been standing, cratering the metal grating.

The Nightkin had just realized that it's attack had missed when the muzzle of Molly's pistol tapped it's temple and she squeezed the trigger three times.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone had just gotten his rifle unslung and looked up just in time to see Molly whirl and fire a burst into the Nightkin's head. Before he could wonder what was going on, he heard something roaring behind him.

Whirling around he saw a large form wreathed in light, charging at him, club held high. He shouldered his rifle and fired from reflex, not even bothering to aim. The .308 slug hit the Nightkin in the head and exited out the back of its head, taking most of it's brain with it.

Racking the bolt, Boone sent a smoking shell arcing over his shoulder as another Nightkin came around the corner.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly saw Boone drop a Nightkin with a shot from his rifle, then glanced back to see the flair of light on the stairs from a Stealth Boy deactivating. Bringing her pistol up, she put the sights on the Super Mutant's snarling face and started firing.

The hail of bullets hit the mutant in the face, chewing through the dense bone and musculature enough for a couple to get into the brain pan and ricochet around.

Dimly, Molly heard the roar of more Nightkin coming at her, and she saw her pistol was in slide lock. Stuffing it into it's holster, she snatched the rebar club of the first mutant she'd dropped and leaped down the short flight of stairs to the landing.

She managed to startle the Nightkin who was charging down the stairs opposite her, it's club low and at a bad angle. It started to shift position and Molly used this opportunity to strike.

Not having the room to swing the club, she instead twirled it around by it's midsection so it was reversed and then thrust the butt of the club up into the mutant's throat. It staggered backwards and Molly whirled, changing her grip on the club and swinging it into the Nightkin's knee.

It connected and the mutant went down with a gurgling howl as it's leg collapsed. She then spun and whirled the club around, this time connecting with the mutant's head. The skull cracked and it went down without a sound.

There was a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and Molly turned just in time to get a rebar club to the sternum.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone had spent precious seconds watching the hall to see of any more mutants were going to come charging down the hall at him, and then when none did, he swung around to Molly take a blow to the guts and get flung like a rag doll.

The cross hairs just seemed to appear on the mutant's head, and he didn't even have to think about pulling the trigger, it just happened.

Through the scope, he saw the mutant's head explode and it crumpled.

Oo000oo000oO

When the mutant had hit her, the wind had gotten knocked out of her and she had gotten sent flying down the hallway that intersected the other one she and Boone had been in. Molly remembered flying briefly, then there had been an impact followed by another as she had hit the wall and the floor of hall.

As soon as she had hit, she had instantly been scrambling to get to her feet, forcing her lungs to draw breath as she readied herself for the Nightkin's inevitable charge- which never came because there was a gunshot and it's head exploded.

Wheezing, she lowered the club and leaned against the wall as Boone came down the steps to the landing.

"You okay?" he asked, lowering his rifle.

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she wheezed. "Just got the wind knocked out of me. Armor took most of the hit." she added, rapping on the chest plate of her metal armor.

Boone's eye's got wide for a second, and she looked down, expecting the worse. When she looked down, however, instead of the horrible physical trauma and lots of blood she was expecting, she saw that the rivets on the plats had given way, and so now the lower torso plates were swinging free.

"Fuck." was all that she could say. "Good thing I was wearing this armor." she added as an afterthought.

"Yeah." Boone agreed. "We'd better make sure that was all of them."

"Yeah." Molly agreed as Boone turned around.

"_Must not have seen the hit." _she thought. _"Good thing, cause I'd to have to explain away how my sub dermal armor took the blow." _

Oo000oo000oO

Boone's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the Nightkin corpses lying around as he picked his way up the steps.

"_Killed that one by bashing it's head in."_ he thought, looking at the one on the landing lying face down with the considerably sized dent in it's noggin. "_She took a solid hit from a chunk of concrete swung by a super mutant and only got the wind knocked out of her, and she sneak like a Veteran Ranger. _

_Whoever this girl was, she didn't get that way in First Recon."_

Oo000oo000oO

"Come and get it, you big dumb-" a ghoul's voice growled "Hey, You're not one of those things out there. Who the hell are you?"

"Molly." she said, identifying herself. "My companion here is Boone. We're here about your demon infestation, Jason sent us..."

The ghoul narrowed his eyes as he looked down at them from his platform above the large room he had holed up in. "And I bet he told you it's the creators will for you to risk your asses instead of his, right?" he asked.

Molly shook her head. "No, but if I had asked him, he probably would have said it." she said. "What the hell happened? How did you end up here? You don't look like one Bright's guys."

The ghoul chuckled and shifted the grip on his weapon. "Guess the outfit gives it away, huh? I never did buy into that religious mumbo-jumbo with the robes and all that shit." he said. "It gets lonely out in the wastes, okay? And I don't have to tell you that Bright's group has some fine looking ghoulettes in it!"

"I'll...I'll take your word on that." Molly said diplomatically. "Speaking of female ghoul's, I think we got all of the demons. You can make a run for it if you want..."

The ghoul shook his head. "Can't." he said "I had a friend with me when those mutant bastards came out of nowhere. She panicked and ran the wrong direction_ – _further into the basement.

She's probably dead, but I ain't leaving until I know for sure. I'd have gone looking for her, except I wouldn't last a minute out there."

Molly nodded in understanding. "If we find her, we'll let you know." she said.

"Thanks." the ghoul said "Here's hoping she's okay."

Molly and Boone retreated out the door and closed it behind them. Checking the pistol in her hand, she starting walking back the way they came.

"Cripes, I hope she found a good hiding place." Molly commented to Boone in a low voice. "'Cause if they caught her..."

"I know." Boone said, his tone grim. He knew what Super Mutants did to their captives.

Oo000oo000oO

Peeking around a corner, Boone saw Molly freeze, then duck back against the wall. Looking back at him, she motioned for him to come up and take a look around the corner. Doing so, he looked around the corner and saw what had made her freeze.

There was what was looked like a heat mirage armed with an incinerator walking around. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he looked back and saw Molly pointing in the general direction of the mutant and then make a shooting motion with her hand.

Boone nodded once to show that he understood and she leaned in close to him, and put her mouth right next to his ear.

"I'll get his attention, and when he uncloaks, you nail him in the head, okay?" she breathed.

Boone nodded again, and shouldered his rifle as Molly scooted over to his left. Taking a deep breath, Molly spoke.

"Hey big guy, you want to play?" she said in a loud voice.

The Nightkin's reaction was immediate and fast- it dropped its cloak and whirled around to face the source of the voice. But that was all it was able to do- Boone fired first and it's head exploded, the body slumping backwards against a railing before crumpling to the floor.

They waited a second, and when no mutants came roaring out of thin air, they relaxed and stood up.

"Well, that got him." Molly said, then walked over to the mutant.

Rolling the corpse produced a key and some spare fuel tanks for the incinerator. Tossing the tanks in her pack, she hefted the incinerator and then set out to explore the rest of the room.

Oo000oo000oO

The search of the room turned up nothing good loot wise, but they did find a corpse of a female ghoul in a storage room on the second level, which had to be the friend of the ghoul who was barricaded in that other large room in the basement.

Doubling back to where they had gotten rushed by the Nightkin, they went down the steps and started down the short hallway to the one part of the basement that they hadn't searched yet.

As they approached the door at the end of the hallway they both froze when they heard a Super Mutant speak behind it. They looked at each other and then Molly got an idea. Retreating back down the hall with Boone, and pulled out one of the fuel tanks for the incinerator.

Boone's brow furrowed as she rummaged around in her pack and produced a stick of dynamite along with a roll of duct tape. Taping the stick of explosive to the side of the tank, she put the tape away, slung her pack back on, and they went back down the hall to the door.

By this point Boone had gotten the idea on what Molly was planning, and positioned himself next to the door as Molly dug around in her pocket for her lighter. Sparking it to life, she put the flame to the fuse and it sparked to life as Boone smacked the door controls.

The door unfolded and retracted into the wall, revealing a _very _surprised Nightkin on the other side – or she imagined it was surprised. She couldn't tell, what with it being invisible and all.

In one smooth motion, she tossed the fuel canister into the room underhand, then Boone hit the controls and the door slid back into place. They heard the Nightkin give a surprised growl, then there was a massive _THUMP_ as the IED went off and the door rattled.

There was silence for the second after the explosion, then the mutant started screaming. Loud thumps and crashes could be heard as it thrashed around , then it went silent.

They waited for a couple of minutes, then raising their weapons, Boone opened the door. Black smoke billowed out and they staggered back as the stench of burned flesh hit them. Covering her nose and mouth, Molly crouched down so she could get a clear view at the room.

Inside, she could see that the flames were already starting to die out, as there was very little in there that was able to burn. The mutant was lying on the floor, it's body burned badly, a ridiculously large sword made from a car bumper lying next to it.

Molly nodded at Boone. "We got him." she said, standing up. "That was the last of them."

Boone grunted in acknowledgment.

Oo000oo000oO

END.


	3. Chapter 3

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

_We come from the land of the ice and snow  
>From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.<br>The hammer of the gods  
>Will drive our ships to new lands <em>

_Immigrant song_, by Led Zeppelin.

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

When they climbed out of the basement with the news that the 'demons' were gone, Jason Bright and the Followers were ecstatic. Praise was heaped upon them, they were called instruments of the Creator, and so on and so forth.

Then they all stampeded down to the basement, through the access tunnels and into the launch chamber. Following them at a more sedate pace, when they got there they found Bright waiting for them.

"Outsiders, you are truly a blessing from the Creator!" crowed Bright in greeting when he saw them. "We sing your praises when we get to the Far beyond..."

Molly bit her tongue and held back the sarcastic remark she felt bubbling up. There was a right way and a wrong way to do these things, and that wasn't it. Presently Bright finished his prattling and got to the point of his speech.

"... and very shortly we shall be on the Great Journey. Chris tells me that he only need s a couple of extra components and our rockets will be ready to launch." he said.

"You need any help with that?" Molly asked.

"If you would, outsider." Jason said. "If it's not too much trouble. It would mean so much to us..."

"No, it's no trouble at all..." Molly said. _"And I'm sure it would." _ she thought.

"Thank you..." Bright said. "Talk to Chris, he can tell you the specifics of what to look for."

"Thank you." Molly said, and turned to find Chris working at one of the consoles.

Walking over to him, she tapped hi on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked. "What do you want, smoothskin?" he asked.

"Jason told me to come and talk to you about some components that you guys need?" Molly explained.

Chris nodded. "What we need are thrust control modules, and an igniting agent. The agent shouldn't be that hard – anything radioactive should do. The thrust control modules on the other hand, are probably gonna be pretty hard to find.

Your best bet would probably be in Novac, because they've scavenging the test site."

Molly nodded. "That's what I was figuring." she said. "So, you're gonna be putting these things in and then blasting off, huh?"

The balding man nodded. "Yeah, Jason says it's much more important that I work up here than down on the pad..." he said, scowling at a readout on the console.

"Sounds like a good idea, what with the pad being irradiated with lethal amounts of radiation and all." Molly said nonchalantly.

"What?" Chris asked. "What do you mean, lethal amounts of radiation?" he asked. "Bright said that what I was doing was too important..."

"Too important to work on the rockets?" Molly asked. "When you're the guy who's supposed to get them flying? You're supposed to be able to do it all from up here?"

It was interesting, Molly mused, to watch the face of someone for whom the mental blocks are falling into place.

"You- you- you mean that you were right?' he asked.

"Yep." Molly said. "You're as human as Boone or I am. In fact..." she ran a finger along Chris's jaw "I could just eat you up..."

"Those _bastards!"_ Chris hissed. "They've been using me!"

"Pretty much." Molly said. "So, what're you going do about it, big boy?" she asked.

"Get me some Sugar Bombs." Chris said. "I'll show them..."

Molly nodded. "Okay, I take it you're going to use those to sabotage the rockets?" she asked. Chris nodded. "Would you mind if I proposed an alternative?" she asked.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Reprogram their flight path." Molly suggested. "Send them somewhere else. You sabotage the rockets, odds are they're gonna land on Novac."

"What do you have in mind?" Chris asked.

"Send them to Flagstaff." Molly suggested. "What better place to send a group of idiots and their asshole leader to than the capitol of the Legion? Think about it, you'd be doing the wasteland a world of good.

You'd get rid of these guys, _and_ the Legion's main city would get hit with a bunch of rockets loaded with highly radioactive fuel and crew."

"Hmmm..." Chris scratched his chin as he weighed her offer.

"Plus, if you, I'd be..._very_ grateful." Molly added.

"Alright." Chris said. "You get the components. I'll write up a program for the navigation software."

"Thanks." Molly said, flashing him a grin and a wink.

Chris immediately turned back to his console to his flustered face.

Oo000oo000oO

By the time that Molly and Boone left the test site, the sun was almost to the horizon, and when they started down the slope of the hill that lead to Novac, it was completely dark, with just a few faint after effects coloring the western horizon.

As they neared the the outermost houses of Novac, Molly slowed, then stopped with Boone stopping a few steps back and to her right. She gazed out in to the darkness for a few moments, then motioned Boone to come over to her.

Carefully, he padded over to her, taking care to carefully place his feet so the hard soles of his boots were making as little noise as possible. When he was up to her Molly pointed out into the darkness.

"Boone, you see that boulder, directly in front of us?" she asked in low whisper.

Boone nodded. "Yeah?" he asked in the same low tone.

"Look about ten feet to the right of it, where the lights of that house are." Molly instructed him. "You see it?"

Boone squinted slightly as he looked at where she told him, and his eyes widened when he saw that the air seemed to shimmer around the lights, catching it and refracting it like it was water-

"Nightkin?" he asked.

Molly nodded. "Uh huh." she said. "You know the McBride's have been having trouble with someone killing their cattle, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Boone said. "Dusty asked to keep an eye out at night."

"That's our killer, right there." Molly explained.

"Huh." Boone said. "How did you know he was there?"

"I took a look after I talked to them." Molly told him. "I found a whole bunch of big -assed footprints and a whole lot of 5mm casings. I figured that he probably showed up after dark, so I decided to keep an eye the lights."

"Clever." Boone said. "So, how are we going to do this?" he asked.

"Like this." Molly said, and carefully unslung the incinerator from where she had been carrying it. "I light him up, you shoot him." she said. "Hopefully, being set on fire will keep him from realizing where are and shooting."

"Hopefully." Boone said as he quietly unslung his rifle.

He settled into a shooting crouch and nodded when he was ready. Molly then adjusted the incinerator so where it pointing roughly in the direction where she figured the Nightkin was, and pulled the trigger. With a _fwoosh_, the incinerator bucked and sent a flaming glob of jellied fuel out in a bright arc.

It turned out that Molly's aim was dead on, and the glob hit the mutant in the back, covering the upper part of his body in fire. With a scream of rage and pain, the Nightkin flailed his arm in a firey dance.

Not content to let the mutant recover and give it the chance to turn them into pate with it's minigun, she pasted it a couple more times with the incinerator while Boone crouched next to her, seemingly a statue as he aimed.

The muzzle flash was like from a flashbulb, combining with the report to make Molly twitch away from it slightly. Downrange, the mutant's screams ceased abruptly as it's body crumpled to the ground.

For a couple of very long seconds, they stood there and watched the flaming corpse of the Nightkin, then Molly let out a long, relieved, sigh and lowered the incinerator.

"Nice shot." she said.

"Thanks."

Oo000oo000oO

After letting the flames die out, Molly let out a low whistle as she played the light from her Pip Boy over the smoking, charred, corpse. "Huh.." she said, playing the light over the weapon. "We got lucky. Minigun didn't get touched."

"Yeah." Boone agreed. "I'll take it." he said, hefting the weapon.

There wasn't much else salvageable on the Nightkin, just some ammunition for the minigun and some dried beef. Taking the ammo and the beef, they then headed to the McBride's door.

She knocked on the door and after a moment it opened, revealing the face of Dusty McBride.

"Oh, hello there!" he said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good." Molly answered. "Uh, we're just stopping by to let you know that your Brahman killer has been taken care of."

"Oh, so that's what that noise was..." Dusty said, stepping back and letting the door swing wide. "Come on in then, we got a whole cooler full of steaks. Feel free to take as much as you want."

Molly blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Thank you." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

Three of the steaks, some whiskey, and a whole lot of jalapeño peppers had gone into the skillet immediately, and the the rest had gone into the fridge in her room. She had given Boone half of what she had gotten out of the McBride's freezer, along with a cooked one.

Sparks wheeled up into the sky as she poked the fire and looked over at the bungalow where the owner of the Dino Bite gift shop lived, and noted that the lights had gone out. Poking the fire again, she waited a few minutes more, then got up and headed over to Dinky.

Oo000oo000oO

By the time the sun had been up an hour, Molly and Boone were heading down the road to the Gibson Scrap Yard. As they approached the yard, the figures of several dogs milling around the main building and a woman sitting on a chunk of machinery.

"Hi there!" the woman greeted as they came up to her. "How are doin'?"

"We're good." Molly said, returning the womans greeting. "I'm Molly."

"Ahhh... " the woman said as she looked Molly up and down with an appraising eye. "I'm Old Lady Gibson, or so I'm told. So what can I do ya for?" she asked.

"We're here for thrust control modules." Molly told her.

"Ohhhh..." Gibson said. "What ya with them?" she asked.

"Solving a ghoul problem." Molly answered. "How much?"

The old woman nodded, as if explanations like that were routine, and spoke her price. "Five hundred caps." she said.

Molly chuckled. "Five hundred caps?" she asked. "You really think you can get that for those?" she asked with a smirk.

Gibson gave her an amused look. "You think I can't?" she asked.

"Yeah." Molly said. "Mainly being that that there are only a handful of people that would want those, first being the OSI office in Mcarren-" she pointed to the east where Vegas lay "- and that's a big if right there. They're primarily there for ag research, not aerospace. And if they _did _want them, it'd be the main offices back in the Hub, and there ain't a traveler alive that would pay five hundred caps to lug something all the way back there.

Second would be the The Followers of the Apocalypse, who are too damn broke to pay that, and finally, there's the Brotherhood, who if they wanted them, they'd just kick your doors down and take them."

Gibson listened to Molly's explanation, nodding along, and smiled when she finished. "Well..." she said. "You certainly know your markets. Were you a caravaner at one point?" she asked.

Molly shook her head. "No, I'm just a cheapskate." she said.

Gibson laughed and conceded Molly's point with a nod. "So, how much do you think that they're worth?" she asked.

Molly did some figuring in her head for a moment. "Two hundred at most." she said.

"Two fifty." Gibson replied.

Molly thought for a second, then reached back and unslung her pack. Settling it on the ground, she dug around in it for a second, then took out a cloth wrapped bundle tied with a piece of cord.

Untying it, she opened it up, revealing a pile of critical parts for an AER9 laser rifle, mainly power couplings, focus optics, and emitters. Gibson's eyebrows shot up when she saw what Molly had in her hand.

"How about I give you these and make up the difference in caps?" Molly asked.

Gibson blinked a couple of times, then nodded. "You got yourself a deal there, sweetie." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

Forty six caps and the rifle parts later, Molly and Boone were trudging their way back to the REPCONN facility, Molly whistling a happy tune from having gotten a good deal on the parts, and Boone with a somewhat sour look on his face.

"Hey, you alright?" Molly asked him when glanced back over her shoulder "You look more serious than usual."

"That dinner you cook me is giving me an upset stomach." he grunted.

Molly grimaced. "Too many peppers?" she asked.

Boone nodded once. "Yes." he said.

"Sorry about that." Molly said. "I'm used to cooking for myself, Not used to having to remember that other people don't the tolerance I do."

Boone grunted in reply and they kept walking. Presently they came to the facility and after going down the manhole into the access tunnels, headed down to the offices that overlooked the launch bay.

"Haverson! I return bearing gifts from strange and exotic lands!" Molly exclaimed as she and Boone came through the door.

"Oh, thanks." Haverson said, looking up from where he was reading some printouts. "Put 'em on that table so I can take a look at them."

Clearing off a space on the indicated worktable, Molly set her bag down on it and pulled the modules out along with the toy rockets. Haverson took a look at the assorted components and smiled slightly.

"Oh yeah, you got the right parts." he said, nodding as he picked up one of the glowing toy rockets. "Yeah, these'll have the right isotope in 'em, Isotope 239."

"Question." Molly interjected. "Why this stuff, and not the stuff lying in pools in the launch bay?"

"Hmm- oh. That stuff has degraded too much." Haverson explained.

"Oh." Molly said.

"And these..." Haverson said, picking up a module and looking it over. "These will do nicely."

Turning to Molly, Chris rubbed his hands together eagerly. "All right." he said "You head up to the observation balcony while I get these installed on the rockets." he added. "Oh, and one more thing- take this with you."

Molly looked at the holotape Haverson was holding up. "What's this?" she asked as she took the tape.

"Flight programming." Haverson replied. "There's a console up there. Load it in when you get up there."

"Sure thing." Molly said with a smirk.

Pocketing the tape, Molly slung her pack and headed out with Boone.

Oo000oo000oO

They had just exited the basement when Jason Bright came on over the intercom and began a pre-launch sermon. Grinding her molars, Molly activated the radio function on her Pip Boy and turned up the volume.

"Fuck, can that man get any _more _pompous?" Molly growled under her breath as she and Boone entered the office.

"Probably." Boone answered.

"Don't say that, you'll only encourage him." Molly shot back.

They made it to the observation balcony in short order, and Molly headed straight for the terminal on the right side of the room. Digging the tape out, she pushed it into it's slot and pressed the 'play' button.

"Okay, lets get this program loaded..." Molly muttered to herself as she tried to listen to Mr New Vegas and _not_ listen to the pompous twit blathering on over the intercom.

On the console, the light next to the tape slot finished it's blinking and then a couple of other lights came on the console.

"Okay..." Molly said, looking over the lights and trying to figure out what they meant. "Lets see here... Memory status, program- ah, here we go. Load program."

Flicking the appropriate switch, the whole console came to life and started humming and beeping as the program ran, right as Brights sermon came mercifully to an end.

"Thank _god_..." Molly said, and activated the launch controls.

Outside, the hemispherical launch bay started to open and _Flight of the Valkyries _began playing over the intercom.

"Ooh, I gotta get a copy of that!" Molly exclaimed as she turned down the volume on her Pip Boy.

Once the doors had fully opened, the engines on the rockets activated and with a slowly building roar, launched themselves off the pad. The four rockets lifted off into the sky on wildly unstable courses, one barely clearing the building and making Molly and Boone duck as it thundered overhead.

"_Fuck!"_ Molly shouted as the rocket passed overhead. When the thunder of the engines had faded away, she dusted herself off and turned to Boone. "Well, now that we've gotten _that _little problem taken care of, lets head back, shall we?"

Boone grunted in acknowledgment.

Oo000oo000oO

On their way out of the building, they ran into Haverson, who traveled with them to Novac. Once they had arrived, Molly headed straight for the dinosaur. Opening the door, she nodded to the shopkeeper and headed straight up the stairs to the mouth, where Manny Vargas was standing watch.

Opening the door, Molly stepped inside and kicked it closed behind her. "Okay, Manny, your ghoul problem has been taken care of, now tell me where Benny and his boys went."

Manny looked up from where he was lying on the floor with his rifle resting on sandbags and rolled over.

"Is that what that noise was?" he asked as he got to his feet.

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said. "It was a ballistic relocation." she explained.

Manny chuckled and straightened his jacket. "I see." he said. "Well, anyways. Your guys. When they came through, I heard one of them mention Boulder City. Apparently that's where Benny was going to pay them the rest of what he owed them."

Molly snorted in derision and cracked her knuckles. "As if. More like stab them in the back." she said in derision. "Anyways, thank you for the info."

"You're welcome." Manny said in thanks. "So, now what are you gonna do?"

Molly shrugged and turned to the door. "Easy. Go to Boulder City and see if I cant find Benny."

Oo000oo000oO

Outside Dinky Molly found Bone still standing where she had told him to wait.

"_Now that is just freaky..." _she thought when she realized that the man hadn't moved a muscle.

"Hey, Boone." Molly said as they started walking away from the shop. "We're heading to Boulder City tomorrow, so you might want to get some rest. I have a feeling that we're gonna need it."

Boone did that grunt thing he did – Molly was discovering that she was becoming fluent in in them – and angled off for his room.

"_Now, what to do..." _Molly thought as she kept walking towards the stairs. _"Oh, yes." _she thought when she saw Haverson walk into the courtyard.

"Hey, Haverson, you got a minute?" Molly called out as she changed direction to intercept him.

Haverson stopped and waited for her to come to him.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked as she approached.

"You doing anything?" Molly asked, hooking her thumbs on her belt.

"Yeah." he answered. "I'm looking to see if I can put my talents to use here, and was told to go see the shopkeeper in the Dino Bite Gift Shop, since he's apparently what passes for a mayor around here."

"Ah." Molly said with a nod. "Well, I'm going to go get cleaned up. When your done, why don't you do the same and come and see me?"

Haverson's eyes widened for a sec, then he gulped and nodded. "O-okay ..." he said. "I'll do that."

"I'll be waiting ..." Molly said with a smile, then sauntered back to her room.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors note: Well, I'm continuing to crank these things out, so I hope you enjoyed it! In any case, feel free to review and tell me how I did.


	4. Chapter 4

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_Never turn your back on an enemy-_  
><em>The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, <em>Schlock Mercenary.  
>Oo000oo000oO<br>Chapter Four.  
>Oo000oo000oO<br>"Ave"

"Ave." The sentry returned the centurions greeting, then went back to what he was doing, which was standing guard at his post while trying to remain awake.

Stifling a yawn, the sentry looked up when a flash of light caught his eye. Looking around, he didn't see anything that could have produced it. More awake now, he wondered where it came from when there was another flash of light, followed by a much brighter one.

The sentry was now starting to become somewhat concerned. Casting a much more critical eye on his surroundings, he _still_ didn't see what could have made those flashes. Finally he decided that the heat was starting to get to him, and took out his canteen.

Tilting his head back to take a drink, he just happened to look skyward and saw four dark objects overhead rapidly growing in size. He gaped at them for several seconds, then dropped his canteen and shouted an alarm.

Not that it did anybody a whole lot of good, for the four REPCONN rockets impacted on the Legion capitol of Flagstaff, vaporizing large sections of the city as only large, multi ton rocket bodies moving at around Mach 27 can do.

For added fun, the highly radioactive fuel, crew, and other assorted bits of the craft ended up getting distributed around the surrounding areas, contaminating it and leaving it highly radioactive. Hundreds of legionaries, slaves, and livestock not killed in the impacts were either killed by the radiation, became ghoulified, or were left crippled and sick.

Even more crippling than the loss of life, tons of supplies were left unusable by radioactive and chemical contamination by the fallout from the impacts, and the Legion's entire administrative capability was destroyed.

It would take a month and a half before Ceaser learned of what had happened, and by that point it was far, far, too late.

Oo000oo000oO

"Hoover Dam, NCR and proud!" Molly murmured, reading the the cracked and weathered billboard overhead.

Shrugging, she and Boone kept walking to where the road sloped downwards away from them and she held up her hand, signaling that they should stop.

"You see something?" Boone asked.

"Nah." Molly responded. "I thought I'd glass the surrounding area, make sure that there weren't any more Legion patrols out there waiting to ambush us like that last one."

Boone grunted and unslung his rifle. Raising her binoculars, she began to sweep the landscape.

That had been a nasty little surprise, Molly reflected. They had just passed Gibson's scrap yard when a half dozen legionnaires had came boiling out of a ravine next to the road, screaming '_retribution!' _at the tops of their lungs and firing wildly.

She and Boone had made short work of them, but afterward she'd had to explain to Boone why the two assassins in the group had charged right at her, obviously showing who their target was.

Molly had told him that she had ran into the Legion outside of Nipton, one of their patrols and had gotten lucky with her varmint rifle, ambushing them from cover and wiping them out before they could figure out where she was.

There was a kernel of truth in her story, she _had_ been outside Nipton proper when she had started sniping them, before entering the town proper and dispatching the survivors with an ease that had terrified the legionaries and had them screaming something abut a 'Burned Man' before dying.

Of course, what had happened in Nipton was just another entry on the _looong_ list of reason why the Legion wanted her dead, starting with the scores of patrols she had butchered while wandering around the Mojave after her hasty departure from Camp Golf.

"_Stupid Ghoul..."_ Molly thought. _"Who the hell would expect e Veteran Ranger to be a __Ghoul?"_

In any case, Boone had accepted her story and left it at that. So, now here they were, an old gas station behind them, Helios one off to their left and behind them with a dry lake bed between it and them, and a ridge jutting up out of the desert floor off their right.

"Hello..." Molly said as something caught her eye. "Boone, campfire."

"Where?" Boone asked, sweeping the desert with his rifle scope.

"Down the road a ways, next to a billboard." Molly directed him.

"I see him." Boone said after a moment. "Looks like he's alone."

"Yeah." Molly said. "There's some ant's in the lake bed, but we'll be down wind of them looks like."

Boone grunted and lowered his rifle. "I saw them too." he said. "If we keep away from the edge of the lake bed we should be fine."

"Lets go them." Molly said, putting her binoculars away.

With that, they resumed their trek down the I-95.

Oo000oo000oO

The campsite was half a mile away when Molly stopped and cocked her head to one side.

"What?" Boone asked, readying his rifle.

"Listen." Molly said.

Boone furrowed his brows as he listened, but heard nothing. He opened his mouth to say something when he heard it, carried by the wind. A guitar.

Molly looked back at Boone and nodded in the direction of the campsite. "C'mon." she said "Lets go."

A few minutes later, they closed on the campsite and they got a good look at the occupant and source of the guitar music. He was an older man, wearing a black duster and cowboy hat, sitting with his back against the billboard, strumming a rosewood guitar.

He looked up when they approached and nodded to them. "Hey there." he said, not breaking rhythm with his playing.

"Hey." Molly said. "We're just passing through, and heard you playing, thought we'd check it out."

"Why, thank you little lady." the man said. "I'm always happy when somebody appreciates my playing."

Molly returned his smile and crouched down so she was on his level. "Question though- you seen anybody come by recently? Like a man in a checkered suit?"

The guitar player nodded. "Yeah, I saw him." he said. "Shifty little fella, with a bunch a tough looking guys. They didn't look too happy with him."

Molly couldn't help but smirk. "Imagine that." she said. "He has that effect on people."

"I imagine so." the man said.

"One more question though." Molly said, rummaging around in her pocket and then with drawing a small amount of caps."How much for a song?"

The man looked at the caps in her hand and then up at her. "For you, little lady, it wont cost a thing." he said, then glanced at Boone "With your permission, of course."

Molly glanced behind her at Boone, who was a dour statue in the early afternoon sunlight. "Oh, we're not together." she said with a laugh.

"His loss then." the guitar player said, and Molly giggled. "So, what'll it be?"

Molly thought for a second. "Do you know _"I walk the line?" _she asked.

"Certainly do, Missy." the man said and began to play.

Oo000oo000oO

The sun was three quarters of the way through its trek across the horizon when they made the 188 trading post.

"Hallelujah, civilization!" Molly exclaimed as they walked up to it. Boone merely grunted.

Ignoring her companion, Molly headed straight for what had to be the bar and took a seat.

"Hello." the man tending the bar said, turning around to face Molly. "What can I get ya?"

"A whiskey and an answer." Molly said in response to the man's question.

"Well, I can provide one, but not the other." the man tending bar told her, reaching to a shelf behind him. "What's the question?"

"Did a man in a checkered coat come through here, followed by a bunch of tribals?" Molly asked as the man put a shot glass on the bar in front of her.

The man nodded as he poured her a drink. "Yeah, about a day back or so."he said. "Why you looking for him?" he asked.

'Fucker shot me in the head and stole a package I was to deliver." Molly answered, then tossed back her drink."

The man gave her a surprised look, then he looked at Boone. "What about your friend there?" he asked.

Feeling the burn of the whiskey all the way down her esophagus, Molly turned and looked at her companion.

"Scotch." Boone said, and took a seat at the bar.

As the bartender poured Boone his drink, Molly glanced over to her left and noticed someone standing over by a railing, looking out over the Mojave. Dressed in the robes of a Brotherhood of Steel Scribe.

Almost as if the figure could sense that someone's eyes were on them, the figure turned around and Molly got a look at her face.

"_Oh, hello." _Molly thought, taking a look at her eyes.

Seeing her, the woman wandered over to where Molly and Boone sat at the bar. "Excuse me..." she said "But you look like you've walked down some bad roads."

"Girl, you have _no_ idea." Molly said with a chuckle. "Went all the way to the grave and back."

The girl cracked a smile at Molly's description of what had happened to her. "In that case, I take it back. You look pretty good, considering the circumstances..." she trailed off when she got a look at Molly's midsection.

"Huh?" Molly asked, and looked down. "Oh." she said, realizing that the girl was looking at the wrinkled metal plates over her midsection.

"What the hell happened to you?" the girl asked, her eyes never leaving Molly's midsection.

"Super Mutant with a big ass club got a lucky shot in at me." Molly explained. "Armor took most of the damage. It looks a _lot_ worse than it really is."

"Oh." the girl said, then looked back up at Molly. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Molly." Molly responded. "What's yours?"

"Veronica." the girl answered. "Veronica Santagelo."

"Veronica Santangelo ..." Molly repeated, adding the rolling _r's_ of the Spanish pronunciation.

Veronica's eyes widened slightly when Molly spoke. "You... you know Spanish?" she asked.

Molly shrugged. "Some. I've been picking it up here and there, sort of a hobby of mine." she explained.

"Oh." Veronica said. "That's a nice hobby. Where are you from?" she asked.

"West of here." Molly answered. "On the coast, you could say. You?"

Veronica shrugged. "I live in a hole in the ground." she said. "Well, actually, it's a bunker, but saying it's a hole in the ground makes it more exciting, don't you think?"

Molly couldn't help but smile. She _liked_ this girl.

Oo000oo000oO

From his vantage point at the bar, Boone sipped his Scotch, wished that he had ice, and watched Molly flirt with Veronica.

"_So she swings both ways ..." _he mused. Another piece of the puzzle of who this woman was.

And she was born in the NCR. Interesting.

Oo000oo000oO

They chose to make camp at the 188 rather than continue on to Boulder City, rising shortly before dawn. Laying a few chunks of firewood onto the embers, Molly managed to poke the fire back to life and soon had water boiling.

Coffee followed soon after, then reheated grilled iguana for breakfast. Washing down her breakfast down with the last of her coffee, Molly stood up, kicked dirt onto the fire and put her cup away.

"Well, I'm ready." she said to Boone. "How about you?"

"Yeah." Boone grunted.

Shouldering their packs, Molly consulted her Pip Boy, got a bearing, and they headed East. Coming over a rise, the ruins of Boulder came into view. Pausing, Molly took out her binoculars, and out of long habit surveyed the ruins.

And frowned.

"Well. Looks like the NCR decided to show up." she said.

Boone held out his hand for the binoculars. Handing them over to Boone, he took a long look at the ruins, then handed the field glasses back to Molly.

"They've cordoned off the area." he said.

"I saw that too." Molly said, taking the binoculars. "Odds are, it's the guy's we're looking for."

"Yeah." Boone said.

The walk down to where there was a cluster of soldiers near a wall, where there was a mini command post set up. Reaching it, Molly took a quick look around and headed straight for the nearest NCO.

"Sargent?" Molly asked as she approached the man.

"Yeah?" the man asked, turning around to face her.

"Who's the officer in charge here?" she asked.

"That would be Lt Monroe." the Sargent said, pointing to a man standing near a table, talking on a ham radio.

"Thanks." Molly said, then took a look around before turning her attention back to the NCO. "Question, what's going on?" she asked him.

The man shrugged. "We got us a hostage situation." he explained. "Khan's grabbed a couple of out guys and holed up in the ruins."

"Ahhh ..." Molly said. "Thanks Sargent."

"You're welcome." the man said, and then turned his attention to a couple of inattentive privates.

Leaving the NCO to terrorize the PFC's, Molly and Boone walked over to the officer, who finished his conversation as they came up. Putting down the microphone, he sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Excuse me." Molly said, getting the mans attention. "Lt Monroe?"

Lt Monroe looked up with the expression of a man who'd had the weight of the world dropped onto his shoulders.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I understand you have a hostage situation?" Molly asked.

The man nodded. "Yeah." he said. "We were chasing a group of Khans, a couple of our guys got separated from their squads and now they're being held hostage.

We'd go in and rescue them, but if we make a move they die, and so-"

"Standoff." Molly finished. "How about a solution?"

Monroe's eyebrows arched up towards his beret. "I'm all ears." he said. "If you find a way to get our guys out alive, I'm all for it."

"I think I can pull it off." she said. Pulling off her beret, she stuffed it into her backpack. "Boone, you stay here." she told him. "I'm doing this one alone."

"You think I can't handle myself?" he asked.

Molly glanced over at her companion. "No. You can handle yourself just fine." she told him. "It's the Khans who cant handle themselves."

Boone's eyes narrowed at her statement. "Really." he said.

The way he said it gave Molly pause, and she gave him a long look .

"What?" she asked.

"They're not animals." Boone said.

"I know they're not." Molly said. "And they've had a shitty deal, yes. But they're not angels."

"I'm not saying that they are." Boone countered. "It's just ..." he trailed off.

Molly took a long look at her companion. "There's more to this, isn't there?" she asked quietly.

Boone's face darkened into a scowl.

"Thought so." Molly said. "Look, we can talk about this later, okay?"

Boone sighed and shook his head. "Never mind." he said. "Just forget it, okay?"

"Sure." Molly said, and headed for the entrance to the ruins.

"Be careful." Boone said called after her.

"Don't worry." Molly told him, pausing at the door. "I'm hard to kill, remember?"

Oo000oo000oO

Closing the door behind her, Molly carefully picked her way through the ruins of Boulder City, noting where the NCR had taken up positions around some partially intact buildings.

"_Been a while since I was here." _ she thought, pausing to look over the buildings, and noted that she could see a couple of the Khans milling about in the interior of one of them_ "Better now than the last time though. Not in a running fight with the Legion this time."_

Her eyes narrowed as she focused on a couple of the Khan's. _"I'm just here to talk to a bunch of short tempered chem dealers and convince them to release their hostages." _she thought _"Not to mention retrieve my property, and get them to tell me where Benny's gotten to." _

Taking a deep breath, she relaxed her posture and tried to make herself as non threatening as possible. Then she started walking again.

"Holy shit!" she heard one of the Khans exclaim as she neared the buildings. "It's her."

"No way ..." a second opined. "It can't be."

Glancing through the open door way, Molly saw a couple of NCR troopers tied up inside, along with a couple of very incredulous looking Khans. Smirking slightly, and making a mental note of the people in the building, she headed for the door to the other building.

Opening the door, she stepped in.

"What. The. Fuck."

Molly smiled at Jessup as she shut the door behind her.

"Hey there, Jessup." she said.

"You're dead." he said, looking at her and obviously trying _not_ to believe what his eyes were telling him. "I saw Benny shoot you in the head. It's impossible."

Molly's smile grew into a grin- a grin that didn't meet her eyes. "Well, you're wrong, Jessie." she said. "I'm alive, I'm here, and you've got a _big_ fucking problem."

"She can't be _that_ tough." a female voice said.

Molly shifted her view over, to where a female Khan stood in the door way to a back room- wearing her pistol belt, she noted with some anger.

"Shut up." Jessup growled at the woman. "You weren't there when we nabbed her. We got the drop on her and she still managed to get Coop and Louie."

Molly chuckled. "I _knew_ I'd gotten a couple of you bastards." she said. "What happened to them? There was only one grave at the cemetery, and no one mentioned bodies."

"They both rolled down hill." Jessup said. "Those Radscorpions that were distracting you probably ate them." he added. "So you're here. What do you want?"

"Not much." Molly said. "I want my property back." she pointed at the female Khan "Like my pistol, and pistol belt there-"

"Hey!" the Khan protested, putting her hand on the butt of the pistol resting in it's holster.. "This is mine, got it?"

"Jessup." Molly said, giving the girl a flat, murderous stare "Your friend there is coming very close to getting you all killed."

Jessup judged the look on Molly's face, decided that she wasn't bluffing, and turned to the female Khan. "You." he said, pointing at her. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. I ain't telling you again."

The woman said nothing, but remained defiant. Molly continued.

"And as I was saying, I also want my rifle back-" she glanced at the semi -auto sniper's rifle leaning in a corner of the old shop "And I want to know where Benny's got to."

Jessup laughed, a laugh laced with cynicism. "And why the hell should do anything that asked?" was his response.

Molly spread her hands wide. "Because I'm you're only way out of this mess, that's why." she said.

Jessup snorted. "What, you think we're gonna turn ourselves over to the 'mercy' of the NCR?" he asked derisively. "You think we want to spend ten years in a labor camp breaking rocks?"

"Nobody does, Jessup." Molly told the man. "But it beats the hell out of getting massacred, stripped of everything of value, and then thrown into a shallow trench grave."

She looked around at the Khans sharing the room with her. "Make no mistake, that last one _will_ happen." she said, looking each on in the eye. "Now, I'm gonna be honest with you. I could care less about a bunch of chem dealing, raiding, murderous tribals, okay? All I want is Benny. I cant get that info from you if your dead.

And like I said, no one wants to do ten years hard labor. So I have a better solution: I'll go back out there and talk to the officer in charge, and tell him that in exchange for releasing the hostages, you want to walk free."

"You think he'll actually go for that?" the third Khan asked.

"He will." Molly said. "He's more worried about the lives of his troopers, not with reenacting Bitter Springs. Trust me, he'll go for it."

Jessup actually smiled when she said that. "Tell you what." he said. "You convince him to do that, and you got yourself a deal."

"Alright then." Molly said. "Be back in a few. Don't go anywhere."

Oo000oo000oO

Molly made the trips back and forth between the two factions as they worked out the agreement. When she came back to on the final trip to tell Lt Monroe that the Khan's had accepted the deal, he had a glum face.

"You don't look so happy." she said point blank.

"Headquarters just called." Monroe said. "They ordered me to attack."

Molly nodded once. "Yeah, but you have a deal." she pointed out.

"I told them that." Monroe said wearily. "They told me to attack anyways."

"What are you?" Molly asked suddenly.

"Pardon?" the officer asked.

"I asked, what are you?" Molly repeated. "Are an officer in the Army of the New California Republic, or are you a common raider? What is more important to you Lt Monroe, the lives of your men and your integrity as an officer, or the whims of a group of paper pushers who aren't going to be the ones writing the letters home?"

The man stiffened for a second, then nodded once.

"You're right." he said. "I'll take the deal."

"Thank you." Molly said, and then turned around to go back to where the Khans were to deliver the good news.

Oo000oo000oO

When Molly got back to the building, she found her sniper rifle and her pistol belt lying on the counter for her. She glanced at the item's on the counter top, then over at the leader of the group.

"Thanks." she said.

"You're welcome." Jessup said. "Now, the deals in place?"

"Yeah." Molly said. "You guys are free to leave. After you tell me about Benny."

The Kahn grimaced at the mention of the man in the checkered coat. "Yeah. Benny." Jessup said. "He was stringing us all along."

"Imagine that." Molly said, unbuckling her 9mm rig. "Let me guess, he got you guys here, then split on ya, with the caps and the Chip, leaving you high and dry right as a NCR patrol came along."

"Yeah." Jessup said.

Molly nodded as she put the gun belt around hr waist- then froze. There was an extra hole in it.

"What the hell did you do my belt?" she asked, directing her question at the girl who had been wearing it.

"It was too big for me, fat ass." the girl said petulantly.

"They're called hips, kid." Molly said, noting the fact that the woman- girl really, on closer inspection- had a split lip and the beginnings of a really awesome shiner. "You get 'em after you hit puberty."

"Hey-" the girl started to say, but Jessup cut her off.

"Do you _like_ getting hit Sara?" Jessup asked her.

The girl said nothing and decided to pout instead. Molly snickered.

"Sorry about that." Jessup said. "She's still learning."

"It's cool." Molly said, buckling her belt. "Anyways, so, from the sounds of it, Benny's probably slithered back to his hole in Vegas."

"That'd be my guess." Jessup said as Molly checked the pockets on her belt. "everything there?" he asked.

"Yeah." Molly said, sparing a glance at Sara. "Fortunately for her sake."

The girl huffed and looked away. Molly ignored her and buckled the leg strap on the holster, then she took her rifle off of the counter.

"Hey baby, come to mama..." she told the rifle in a sultry voice as she picked it up.

"Cripes woman, you must love that thing." Jessup said as she looked over the rifle.

"Why wouldn't I?" Molly asked as she clicked on the illumination switch for the reticule. "This thing is a work of art."

Shouldering the rifle, she sighted down it and confirmed the reticule illumination was still functional, then turned it off and popped the magazine out.

"If you say so." Jessup said. "I couldn't hit shit with that thing."

"This is a precision rifle. You gotta know how to use it." Molly said, pulling the bolt back to check the action. "Anyways. Thank you. You held up your end, I held up my end, but I have places to go and things to do."

"Hey." Jessup asked as Molly started to leave.

"Yeah?" Molly asked.

"What are you gonna do to that asshole when you catch up to him?" Jessup asked.

"I'm gonna kill him."Molly answered. "And then I'm getting the Chip back, and I'm gonna complete my delivery." she finished.

"Good luck." Jessup said.

Oo000oo000oO

End.


	5. Chapter 5

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_I rode a tank  
>Held a general's rank<br>When the blitzkrieg raged  
>And the bodies stank<em> _Sympathy for the Devil, _by The Rolling Stones. Oo000oo000oO

"Hey Boone." Molly said, leaning forward slightly as she scanned the desert with her binoculars. "You wanna see something?"

"What?" Boone asked, shifting around so he was facing in the same direction she was.

"Take a look at that ridge over there." Molly said, pointing at the ridge in question. "At the base, midway down."

It took a moment for Boone to find what she was referring to, but when he did, his molars grinding was plainly audible.

"Legion." he ground out.

"Uh huh.'' Molly said, switching from her binoculars to her sniper rifle. "You mind if I check and see if my rifle still has it's zero?" she asked.

"Go ahead." Boone said. "As long as the Legion dies, I don't care how or by who's hand."

"I like your way of thinking." Molly said as she flipped the bipod down on her rifle.

Reaching behind her, she pulled the rifle's silencer from a pouch on her gun belt and screwed it onto the muzzle. Going prone, she reacquired the patrol and swung the crosshairs onto the rearmost Legionnaire.

Holding the crosshairs on the man, she estimated the range using the mil-dots on the reticule, then held off for elevation and wind. Taking a breath, she slowly let it out as her finger gently caressed the trigger.

There was a muffled _crack_ from the suppressor and the rifle bucked. Through his scope, Boone watched as the Legionnaire convulsed and crumpled to the ground. He saw the man in front start to look behind him at the sound of his buddy hitting the ground.

There was another _crack_ from Molly's rifle and the second Legionnaire fell. Boone swung his scope onto the third man, just in time for Molly's rifle to fire again. This time he saw a puff of misted blood rise from the man's neck.

He saw the fourth man look over his shoulder and stop when he saw his companions lying dead behind him. It was too far away for him to hear the man shout a warning, but whatever he said came far too late, as Molly put a bullet in his head.

The last man in the patrol started to run, but Molly's rifle fired one more time and he fell as her rifle's bolt locked open.

Lifting her head from the stock, Molly looked over at Boone and flashed him a toothy grin.

"I think it still has it's zero, don't you think?" she asked.

Boone could only stare at her.

Oo000oo000oO

When Boone got a look at the bodies, he was even more impressed with Molly's shooting, for every one of the Legionnaire's had a .30 caliber hole in the neck, straight through the spine.

Which had been put there from just over four hundred yards away.

Rolling the bodies yielded not much in the way of loot: a varmint rifle that had a better stock than the one she had, and a .357 chambered lever action, and a bit of ammo for both along with a handful of casings for each, along with some food.

Distributing the items between them, Molly and Boone got back onto the 95 and headed north, towards Vegas.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone got to see more of Molly's marksmanship that day when they blundered into a pack of blue geckos. She dropped the largest one with one round from her sniper rifle, putting the bullet right through it's open mouth into it's brain stem.

Boone dropped the second one as Molly was sighting in on her next target and the remainder turned tail and fled.

"That's enough, Boone." she said, lowering her rifle.

Boone lowered his rifle and arched an eyebrow at her. "Why?" he asked. "They're vermin."

Molly chewed her lip for a second, then sighed. "I ... have a soft spot for Gecko's." she explained. "I had a Golden Gecko as a pet."

"You're kidding." Boone said.

"It's true." Molly said with a shrug. "You can keep them as pets. You have to get them right when they hatch."

Boone thought about it for a second, then cocked his head to one side. "So you're attached to the blue one's too?" he asked.

Molly shrugged and slung her rifle. "I just kind of have a soft spot for them." she said. "No need to slaughter them all if they're running away."

"So what are we going to do with these two?" Boone asked, nodding at the two dead Geckos lying at their feet.

Molly looked at the two dead Gecko's and drew her knife. "Easy." she said. "Turn 'em into dinner."

"Thought you had a soft spot for them." Boone commented as he slung his own rifle and drew his knife.

"I do." Molly elaborated. "I'm not stupid. I like dogs too. Doesn't mean that I'm gonna hesitate if one's attacking me."

Boone grunted acknowledgment and started to skin the Gecko.

"Hey, Boone" Molly said after a few minutes.

"What?"

"You ever have Gecko Stuffed Peppers?" she asked, looking at where a large bell pepper plat was growing next to a rock.

"No, I haven't." Boone answered.

"Well then, you're in for a treat." Molly told him "'Cause that's what's for dinner."

"I can hardly wait." was Boone's response.

Oo000oo000oO

"So, what do you think?" Molly asked.

Boone looked up from his mess kit and swallowed. "It's ... good." he said. "Not too spicy."

"Good. " Molly said. "I went easy on the jalapeños for yours."

"Thanks." Boone said.

Setting aside her plate, Molly took a swig of whiskey and picked up the newest varmint rifle and rummaged around in her pack. Taking out a canvas bundle, she undid the ties and unrolled it on the ground next to her, revealing a small collection of tools.

Across from her, Boone watched with interest as Molly took a standard head screwdriver from the bundle and after checking to make sure that the rifle was unloaded, started backing out the stock screws.

With quick, efficient, movements, she disassembled the rifle, pausing occasionally to take a bite from her meal or a drink of her whiskey. When she had the rifle in pieces, Molly then grabbed her first varmint rifle and went to work taking it apart.

When she had both rifles in pieces, Molly took the barrel and action from the first rifle, the stock of the second, and assorted bits and pieces from both rifles into a better rifle than she had before, and the leftovers were reassembled into a lower quality rifle that she was going to sell.

"Nice job." Boone commented on her craftsmanship.

"Thanks." Molly said as she put the rifles away. "By the way ..." she added, reaching into her pack. "I noticed that you don't have a sidearm."

Boone watched as she took out her 9mm's gun belt and handed it over to him.

"Thanks." he said, leaning forward and taking the belt.

"You're welcome." Molly said.

Oo000oo000oO

"Boone, wake up."

Boone groaned as Molly gave him a gentle nudge with the toe of her boot. Cracking open an eye, he looked up to see her standing over him with a chunk of dried meat and a steaming tin cup.

"Breakfast?" Molly asked.

Rubbing his eyes, Boone sat up and took the proffered cup and food. Sipping his coffee, he gave the chunk of dried meat a once over.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Biltong." Molly answered. "It's dried meat, in this case, Brahmin. Got it from a Pre-War book."

"Really." Boone said before taking a bite.

"Yeah." Molly said, walking back to her bedroll and sitting back down. "It's light, keeps for years, and is easy to make."

Boone gave it a few thoughtful chews before swallowing. "What's with you and peppers?" he asked.

"Part of the drying process." Molly answered. "Keeps flies off of it, and adds flavor."

Boone nodded and took a sip of coffee. "Just asking. You put peppers in everything."

"What can I say?" Molly said as she picked up her own biltong and coffee. "I like peppers."

"So I noticed."

Oo000oo000oO

On their way into New Vegas, they made two stops. One was with a traveling merchant, where the only transaction was for a couple of Stimpacks and a straw hat with a nice, wide, brim.

The merchant had another one in stock that Molly had offered to buy for Boone, but he had politely (but brusquely) declined, even after she pointed out that his First Recon beret , while being very intimidating and looking very nice on him, provided absolutely zilch for sun protection.

She had shrugged and muttered something about him thinking with a different head. That comment made him think of Carla and had spent the next hour in silent remembrance of his wife until Molly had stopped and started to apologize for hurting his feelings.

Boone had cut her off right then and there, telling Molly that it wasn't her and leaving it at that. She nodded, and hadn't anything else until they reached the Gunrunners.

There, they had unloaded all of their excess weaponry and other items, and had ended up walking away about seventy pounds lighter and several thousand caps richer.

"That was so tempting." Molly said out of the blue.

"What was?" asked Boone.

"That anti-material rifle at the Gunrunners." Molly answered. "I could _really_ reach out and touch someone with that thing."

"Yes, yes you could." Boone said, his thoughts drifting to that rifle. There were plenty of places in the Mojave that it could come in handy. Like the bluffs overlooking the Colorado across from Ceasers camp. He could snipe them all day, and they'd never be able to hit him ...

"So why didn't you?" Boone asked. "You have the caps for it."

"Need to kill Benny first." Molly answered. "I can always pick it up later. There's no shortage of things to use it on in the Mojave."

Boone grunted in reply.

"Hey." Molly asked after a few more minutes of walking.

"What?" Boone asked.

"You ever use one of those things, the anti-material rifles?" she asked.

"A few." Boone answered. "Good round. Lotta range."

"Yeah." Molly said. "I used them a few times myself. I was able to get body shots in at a mile with it."

"Nice." Boone said, and they kept on walking.

"You know." Molly said, breaking the silence again. "If I recall correctly, theres some bluffs on the NCR side of the river that over look the Legion's camp on that island."

"Yeah." Boon said, his tone neutral.

"I think it's about three quarters of a mile from bluffs to the camp." she continued. "Someone could _really_ make the Legion's lives miserable with one of those from there."

"They could." Boone said. "Very easily."

Molly looked over at him and gave Boone a dazzling smile. "What do you say we pick up a couple after we get this Benny mess done with and head over there?" she asked.

"I'd ... I'd like that." Boone said quietly. "A lot."

"Me too."

Oo000oo000oO

They hit Freeside's South Gate thirty minutes after leaving the Gunrunners kiosk. As soon as they stepped inside the gates, a group of men immediately started to offer them guide services, but their offers died away when Boone just glared at them.

Leaving the men behind them, Molly and Boone headed into Freeside.

"You know your way around here?" Boone asked quietly, scanning their surroundings.

"Yeah." Molly answered. "Well enough to stay out trouble, at least."

"_Not so bad without the gangs of murderous tribals out for your blood." _Molly thought._"Though that was fun, playing cat and mouse with them through the ruins." _

She smiled at the memories that came to her, right as half a dozen men came running out of an alleyway waving assorted blunt instruments and screaming bloody murder, heading straight for them.

"_Spoke too soon."_ she thought, drawing her 10mm.

Next to her, Boone was still struggling to draw his sidearm as Molly casually dropped the front sight onto the man leading the charge at them. At ten yards, it was like fish in a barrel for her and the first round caught him right between the eyes, the slug zipping through his brain cavity like it was nothing and leaving the second round she fired superfluous.

But, ammo was cheap and life was expensive in Molly's book, so she paid the insurance and shot him again. The men were just beginning to react as she shifted her aim to the one on the left of the first man and her pistol fired again, this time she put the bullet just under his left eye.

Next to her, Boone had managed to get his pistol clear and was taking aim at the men on the right side of the group. Not being anywhere as proficient as Molly with a handgun, Boone was going with body shots, aiming for the center of mass for the next man closest to him.

When he fired for the first time, there was confusion in the back of his mind, for the pistol only fired once for the pull of the trigger, and when he had seen Molly use it, it had looked like a burst fire weapon.

Thankfully for him, his reflexes were in charge rather than the rational part of his brain, and so he squeezed the trigger again. The man he was aiming at started to crumple, the 9mm ball rounds shredding his heart and Boone shifted his focus to the next man.

That man was starting to put the brakes on, having seen three of his companions die in a heartbeat, but he and his remaining buddies were far too slow. Molly and Boone made short work of them.

Molly watched as the body of the last man crumpled to the ground and gave an almost wistful sigh.

"Ah, never a dull moment in Freeside, is there?" she asked.

Boone grunted.

"Anyways." Molly said, holstering her pistol. "I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty. Let's head over to the Atomic Wrangler."

"Sure."

Oo000oo000oO

The door to the Atomic Wrangler squeaked slightly as Molly opened it. Stepping inside with Boone, she let the door swing shut behind them and they stood there for a moment as they let their eyesight adapt to the considerably darker interior of the casino.

The air tasted of mildew, dust, cigarette smoke, and a few other smells that couldn't bee identified. Looking over at the bar, she saw Francine Garret was tending it and smiled to herself.

"Hey, Boone, you get us a table." Molly said to her companion. "What do you want to drink?"

"Whiskey." Boone said.

"Got it." Molly said, and headed for the bar.

As she headed for the bar, Francine looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Francine commented in a low voice as Molly came up to her. "What brings you here?" she asked, then looked over at Boone and leaned in closer to Molly "And since when did you stop working alone?"

Molly glanced over her shoulder at Boone, then back to Francine "It's a new development." she said, using the same low voice that Francine was. "I'm in town for Benny."

Francine arched an eyebrow as she rummaged around underneath the bar. "On of the Chairmen?" she asked. "I take it he's the one who gave you that ding on your noggin?"

"Yeah." Molly said darkley, raising a hand to touch the bandages on the left side of her face. "Fucker got the drop on me with some Khan's when I was distracted. Got tow of them before one of 'em cracked me over the head with something.

I wake up, and Benny's standing over me with that gilded 9mm of his. Shot me in the head, and the next thing I knew, I'm waking up in the doctor's house in Goodsprings."

"Really." Francine said in a neutral tone as she set a bottle of whiskey on the counter with a couple of glasses. "He, uh ..."

"He'll keep quiet." Molly said, taking the bottle and glasses. "I had a word with him before I left."

"For his sake, I hope he does." Francine said. "Oh, before you leave, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Sure." Molly said as she turned around to head to where Boone was sitting.

"Here you go." Molly said, placing a glass in front of Boone.

Boone looked down at the glass and then back up at her. "You friends with her?" he asked.

Molly shrugged as she sat down across from Boone. "Something like that." she said, uncapping the whiskey "We've known each other for a while."

"I see." Boone said as she poured their drinks. "So, what's your plan for getting to Benny?"

"Right now, I have no idea." Molly said, recapping the whiskey and raising her glass. "Cheers."

Taking a healthy drink, she set her glass down and leaned back. "I was figuring I'd do some reconnaissance of the area, maybe scratch up some work for the both of us." she continued. "Figure out his habits, then take him out."

Boone nodded and took another sip of his whiskey.

Oo000oo000oO

Outside of the Atomic Wrangler, Boone leaned against a wall and waited for Molly to conclude her business in the casino. While he waited, Boone was looking over the 9mm she had given him.

It was a fairly decent pistol, all things considered. The finish was scratched and worn, the grips were chipped and one had a slight crack in it, and it rattles slightly.

However, it cycled smoothly, the trigger was still crisp, and it functioned flawlessly.

"_So how the hell did she make this thing act like it was a full auto pistol?"_ Boone thought idly, sighting down the barrel.

Ejecting the clip, Boone inserted a fresh magazine into the pistol before reholstering it and dug a box of 9mm out of a pocket. Opening it up, he clicked fresh rounds into the magazine.

He looked over as the door creaked open and Molly stepped out.

"Oh, there you are." Molly said after looking around for a second. "Got some work for us." she added, holding up a piece of paper.

"Doing what?" Boone asked.

"Bill collecting, aaaand ... talent scouting." Molly said looking at the paper.

"Talent scouting?" Boone asked, picking up on her hesitation on the second item.

"Hookers, or the recruiting thereof." Molly explained. "Not the worst things we could be doing .."

"Hookers?" Boone asked.

"Hey, you think it's bad _now_, wait until you hear about what _kind_ of hookers." Molly told him.

"What are you talking about-" Boone began to ask.

"Sex bot, ghoul, and a smooth talker." Molly explained as Boone grimaced. "Yeah, that was my reaction, too." she added. "We're doing the bill collection first."

"So, where do we start?" Boone asked without enthusiasm.

Molly looked at her list for a long second. "Lets start with this one, Lady Jane." she said. "We'll have to start asking around, but first ..."

She looked around for a second, then headed over to an abandoned building. As Boone started walking over to the building he heard shouting and then three squatters came running out of the building. He watched them run down the street, then walked into the building where he found Molly beginning to undo the straps on her armor.

"What are doing?" Boone asked.

"We're gonna have to be asking around about these people, right?" Molly asked.

"Yeah." Boone said with a nod.

"Well, people are a lot more talkative if you're not clad in bashed up armor." Molly explained. "Watch the door, will ya? I'm not putting on a show for Freeside."

"So what about what happened in Novac?" Boone asked as he took up position in the door. "What was that?"

"That was me making a good first impression." Molly quipped. "Now where is that shirt..."

Oo000oo000oO

Ten minutes later Boone turned around when Molly gave the all clear and Boone's eyebrows shot up to his beret.

"What do you think?" Molly asked with a grin.

Somehow, Boone noted, Molly had, in the mysterious way of women throughout history, managed to completely transform herself. She had shed her armor and replaced it with a pair of cutoff shorts, her combat boots, a t shirt that was two sizes too small, and- Boone was careful to try and not focus on this too much- no bra.

Somehow, the gun belt buckled around her hips fit with the outfit she was wearing.

_Above_ her shoulders, she had let her hair down, brushed it out, and tied it back into a low ponytail, with a pair of sunglasses she had pulled off of one of the Legionnaires they'd killed along with the straw hat she had bought.

"It's- it's nice." Boone said, firmly keeping his eyes above his chest.

"Thanks." Molly said, bouncing her feet as Boone did his level best to _not_ watch her bounce. "Oh, I don't mind if you watch ..." she said.

Boone's cheeks flushed bright red and he turned around and looked down at the ground in shame.

"Come on." Molly said, slipping past him. "We got work to do."

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors Note: And now I've got another chapter up... Anyways, writing Boone and Molly is quite fun. And as always, please read and review!


	6. Chapter 6

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind._

Gordon Gekko, _Wall Street._

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's hypothesis proved to be correct, and the people they talked to opened up to her and they were soon on the trail of the elusive Lady Jane. Their questions lead them to the Vegas North Gate, where they found her standing next to a fire barrel, looking like she had just stepped out of a pre-war snapshot in a pastel dress, pearls, and heels.

"Excuse me ..." Molly said as they walked up to her.

"Yes?" the woman said pleasantly.

"Are you Lady Jane?" Molly asked.

The woman hesitated for a second, then gave them a pleasant smile. "Why, yes, yes I am." she said. "Why do you ask?"

"The Garret twins was their money." Molly answered in an equally pleasant tone, her hand resting on the butt of her 10mm.

Lady Jane hesitated for a second and her expression became slightly strained. "Well, I would love to pay them, but my caravan was-"

In the blink of an eye Molly had her pistol up and leveled at Lady Jane's face. "I could care less about your caravan, Lady Jane." she said, still pleasant, her tone contrasting oddly with the sound of the safety being taken off. "I want the caps."

"But if I pay, I won't have any money for the trip back-" Jane stammered.

"If you can run a caravan, you can survive the Mojave." Molly said. "Caps, now."

"But-"

Molly cocked the hammer back on her pistol.

"Okay, I'll pay." Jane said in defeat, and reached for her purse.

Molly narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the pistol. "All of them." she said. "I know you're good for it. We've been talking to people all over Freeside about you."

Jane winced and handed over the caps to Molly's outstretched hand. "I take it that's all?" she asked.

"Not quite." Molly said. "You're clothes too."

"What?" Jane asked in shock. "Why?"

Molly smirked as she kept her pistol leveled at Jane. "Because I will not suffer fools, Jane." she said. "Now strip."

Jane gulped a few times, looked at Molly, saw that she was quite serious, and then with great reluctance started to strip down.

Oo000oo000oO

They left Lady Jane standing by the fire barrel clad only in her underwear, hugging herself and shivering.

"Was that necessary?" Boone asked.

"Yes, it was." Molly said as they walked down the street towards their next target. "If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's a fool."

"I noticed." Boone said. "So, who's next?" he asked.

"The ghoul." Molly said. "Goes by the name of Grecks. If I recall correctly, the people we talked to said he'd be behind the Old Mormon Fort."

"You going to take his clothes too?" Boone asked.

"Probably not.." Molly answered. "I am gonna get the caps, though. Got an idea on how to do it, too."

"And that would be?" Boone asked.

"You be the tough guy." Molly suggested as they approached the Old Mormon Fort.

"Why?" Boone asked.

"Because you're the big burly First Recon badass, and I'm the cute little wasteland explorer!" Molly answered.

"Oh brother." Boone said in exasperation.

Molly looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, come on." she said "All you have to do is stand behind me and look intimidating. Pretty much what you've normally been doing."

"Oh." Boone said.

"Now look sharp." Molly said as the rounded the corner to back of the fort. "He's right ahead of us."

Boone merely scowled as they approached the ghoul who was sitting

"Hey." Molly said as they approached the ghoul.

"Oh." the ghoul said as he turned around "Hey, could you spare some ... caps ..." he trailed off when he saw Boone.

"The Garret's sent us." Molly explained with a smile as she and Boone came to a stop in front of him. "You can guess why."

The ghoul grimaces and scooted back a couple of paces before getting to his feet. "Ah, about that, I really don't have the caps-"

"Bullshit." Molly said. "We know about that Caravan game."

Grecks swallowed, then deflated. "Okay." he said, and handed over a bag of caps.

Molly opened the bag and counted out the caps. "Hey, there's sixty three caps here." she said "Where's the other seventy five?"

"Hey, that's all I got." Grecks protested, holding up his hands. "I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure you are." Molly said, then looked over at her companion. "Boone, what do you think?"

Boone looked at the gibbering ghoul was standing in front of him, and was reminded of all the gamblers he'd seen on the Strip, who had gambled away every last cap and thing of value of theirs.

"He's lying." he said.

"It's the truth!" Grecks whined, which disgusted Boone even further.

Clenching his hand into a fist, Boone stepped past Molly and clocked him one int the face. Hard.

Grecks howled and stumbled backwards, clutching at his nose.

"Okay okay, youd widnn.." Grecks said, and started digging around in his pockets. "Herde." he said, holding out a fistful of caps to Molly.

Molly took the caps and he dug around in his pockets again and came up with a few caps more.

"Herde. Dat's all od dem." he said

"Thank you." Molly said pleasantly. "Now, just think, if you had just paid up, your face wouldn't have gotten even more broken."

Grecks snarled at the mention of his face, but that was all he did as both Boone and Molly had their hands on the butts of their pistols.

"I wouldn't." Molly said.

"You've taken everything but the clothes off my back ..." grumbled the ghoul.

"Well, I already did that to the last person, so you're in luck." Molly said. "Have a nice day."

Turning around, they left the ghoul standing there grumbling curses at them as they walked away.

Oo000oo000oO

Last on their list was Santiago. They found him as the sun was starting to set, the shadows from the ruins stretching out and covering Freeside in pockets of shadows. He was sitting on a makeshift mat made out of cardboard by a fire.

"Hi there..." the man said, his voice smooth as silk, with a Spanish accent. "How are you? Santiago is _fabulous_" he said, flashing Molly a million cap smile.

"I'm fine." Molly said, returning Santiago's smile and crouching down in front of him. "So, you're Santiago?" she asked, making sure that she was leaning forward and that the firelight was falling on her unrestrained breasts.

Santiago's gaze flicked down for a second, and a rather _predatory _glint came into his eyes and Molly knew that she had him.

"Yes..." the man said. "And how can Santiago help you?" he asked.

"I have a proposition for you." Molly said, casually slipping her right hand down to her side.

The predatory glint in Santiago's eyes turned lecherous and he gave her his most charming smile. "And that would be?" he asked.

Casually, Molly drew her pistol and aimed it between his legs.

"You owe the Garret's a substantial amount of caps, and they are in the market for a ... smooth talker, such as yourself." she said, the click of the safety quiet and yet very distinct. "I think we can reach an accommodation, don't you think?"

Molly had to give the man credit, he was cool under pressure. He had a large bore handgun aimed at his crotch and he still had the wherewithal to look completely unconcerned by it.

"Yes ... Santiago thinks we can work something out." he said, still suave, still smiling. "Though Santiago hopes you can stop by and see him ..."

Molly chuckled. "You've got a set of brass ones, I'll admit that." she said, then flipped the safety back on. "Don't make me blow them off."

Oo000oo000oO

When they dropped Santiago off at the Atomic Wrangler they managed to score a room for the night, which meant no camping outside for them. However, there was a bit of a downside to this situation ...

"So." Molly said, standing at the foot of the room's single size bed "Who's gonna get the floor and who gets the bed?"

"You're the woman." Boone said. "I'll take the floor."

Molly looked over at her companion with genuine surprise on her face. "Well, thank you for being so chivalrous." she said. "But are you sure about that? This floor doesn't look all that soft."

"I insist." Boone said, his tone stating that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Okay ..." Molly said. "I'm gonna go have a drink. You want anything?"

"No." Boone said. "I'm good."

"Pleasant dreams." Molly said as she headed for the door.

Downstairs, it was deserted even though the casino was open twenty four hours, the only person there being Francine Garret, who was tending the bar and balancing the books at the same.

"Hey." Molly said as she came down the stairs.

"Hey yourself." Francine said, and reached under the bar for a couple of glasses. "You need a drink?"

"That would be nice." Molly said as she reached to foot of the stairs. "Balancing the books?" she asked, eying the ledgers piled onto the bar in front of Francine.

"Yeah." she said as she poured the drinks. "Gotta do it sometime."

Walking up to the bar, Molly sat down at a stool and picked up her glass. "Cheers." she said, and Francine raised her glass in kind.

"Cheers." Francine echoed and clinked their glasses together. "So." she said after taking a drink "What's up?"

"What do you mean, what's up?" Molly asked, grabbing the pack of cigarettes lying on the bar and shaking one out.

"I"m talking about that NCR friend of yours." Francine explained. "What is he, your boy toy or something?" she asked.

"It's nothing like that." Molly protested. "I just... helped him a little, and now he's following me around the wastes."

"Helped him with what?" Francine inquired, her eyes glinting mischievously. "Some companionship troubles perhaps?"

"More like helping him find the person that sold his wife to the Legion." Molly answered.

"Oh." Francine said. "So I take it that bimbo outfit was there just to help get info, not to also try to get into his pants?" she asked.

Molly nodded and leaned down to light the cigarette off of a candle that was burning on the counter. "Honestly, I don't think I could." she said.

Francine laughed at that. "Really.' she said. "You, of all people?" ''

Molly shrugged and took a drag off of her smoke. "It's true." she said. "He's ... devoted to her." she added, then thought for a second. "And ridden with guilt."

"Over that?" Francine asked. "He th ink it's his fault?"

"I don't know." Molly said. "I haven't really gotten into it. If he wants to, he will."

"Okay." Francine said. "So. What else have you been up to?"

"Not much." Molly answered and took another drag on her cigarette. "Until this mess came up, I was just running packages, saving my caps, and thinking about going north to Yakima."

Francine blinked, then did some mental arithmetic. "It's been, ten years since we were up there last." she said, referring to herself and her brother.

"Going on twenty for me." Molly said. "Last time I went up it was about five years before I joined up with the NCR."

"Which was a piss poor decision, if you ask me." Francine commented, to which Molly had to nod in agreement.

"Yeah." Molly said. "I can't argue with that. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Francine gave Molly a deadpan look. "I'll remind you that _we_ were a good idea at one point." she said.

Molly laughed at that one, a short, cynical one. "Yeah. We were." she said, and downed the rest of her drink. "I've got a long day ahead of me, so I'll see you in the morning." she added, getting off of her barstool.

"Pleasant dreams." Francine called after her.

Oo000oo000oO

The next morning Boone awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and a nudge to the shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Molly standing over him clad only in a gray tank top and her panties, a ceramic mug and piece of biltong in hand.

"Morning, Sunshine." she said, and handed him the mug and the biltong.

"Morning." Boone grunted, and took the items.

"Got an another job from the Garrets." Molly mentioned, picking up her own mug from the nightstand and taking a sip.

"Doing what?" Boone asked, and started to gnaw on the biltong.

"Apparently, the guy doing their debt collection took offense to us doing his job and making him look bad, and he left." she began.

"And?" Boone asked.

"And he took a couple of hundred caps with him when he left." Molly added. "Francine wants him dead."

Boone gnawed on the biltong some more, took a sip of his coffee, and looked over at Molly. "Any idea on where he's gone?" he asked.

"Odds are, the Strip to spend their money." Molly answered. "As proof, she wants us to bring back the guys hat and to recover the caps, if possible."

"So we're going to the strip." Boone stated the obvious.

"Yep." Molly said. "So put on your best clothes."

Oo000oo000oO

"Submit to a credit check or present your passport before proceeding to the gate. Trespassers will be shot."

Molly and Boone looked up at the Securitron looming above them, and Molly reached into her pack for the bag she kept her caps in.

"Here you go." she said pleasantly, holding the bag up for the Securitron. "There's just over four thousand caps. Enough for both of us."

The robot was silent for moment as it scanned the bag.

"You may proceed." the robot stated and rolled out of their way.

Molly tucked her bag back into her pack, then she and Boone started walking towards the gate. As they approached, the doors to the gate parted and began to roll back with a lot of clanking and grinding.

They stepped through as soon as there space for them to pass, and Molly stopped dead when she saw the Strip.

"Wow." Molly said.

"You never been on the Strip before?" Boone asked from behind her.

"Not really." Molly said. "I don't gamble, so I never really had a reason to come here."

"You're kidding." Boone said as they started walking again.

"Nope." Molly said. "And take a look." she added, nodding in the direction of the Gomorrah.

"That him?" Boone asked.

"Yeah." Molly said. "That's him, Caleb McCaffery. Francine told me what he looks like. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Well, how-dee there!" the sound of an electronic yokel cut into her conversation. "How ya doin' there little lady?" Victor asked.

"Taking care of some business." Molly said as she unslung her rifle.

"Weell, I hate to be a downer, but Mr House-" Victor started to say but Molly hushed him with a finger.

"Quite for a sec, would ya?" she said as she sighted in on the man across the plaza.

The robot hushed up for a second as Molly drew a bead on her target. There was a muffled _'crack' _from the suppressed rifle and across the plaza the man crumpled to the ground.

The whore thee man was talking to screamed and ran away, providing an ample distraction for Molly to surreptitiously sling her rifle and start to walk over to the body. When she reached the body, she reached down and took McCaffery's hat, and after a bit of searching, a large bag of caps that had to belong to the Garrets.

After a moments thought, Molly took his coat and shotgun as well. Turning around, she headed back to where Boone and the Securitron were waiting for her.

"Okay." she said to the robot. "I'm done. What was that about House?" she asked.

"Well, as I was sayin' Mr House would like to see you." Victor said.

"I'm sure he would." Molly said and looked over at Boone. "You mind if we make a detour?" she asked.

Boone shrugged and Molly turned back to Victor. "Alright, I'll see him." she said.

"Well then, follow me little lady!" the robot said, and turned around to lead them to the Lucky 38.

Ahead of them the massive shutters covering the front of the Lucky 38 parted with a muffled series of bangs, then slid back with a metallic groan, a small cloud of dust and stale air billowed out from them.

Walking up the doors, Molly took a deep breath, sneezed, and pushed the door open.

"Bless ya." Victor called after her.

Oo000oo000oO

As soon as she stepped into the Lucky 38, Molly felt a sensation she hadn't felt in a _very _long time: air conditioning.

"Why's it cold in here?" Boone asked.

"Well, that'd be the air conditioning." Victor explained to Boone.

Molly stood there and looked around at the main floor of the casino, taking in a place that was frozen in time, had been since Saturday, October 23rd 2077, a shadow of the Old World, something she had only heard about from her grandparents stories.

Hands of cards were still on the tables, piles of chips in front of the chairs, glasses still ready at hand. There was a tray, dropped with it's contents in the middle of the floor. A woman's handbag was still on a bar, forgotten by it's owner.

A lone womans shoe was left on the stairs, lying on its side. Cigars were still placed in the ashtrays, long gone out. Carefully, Molly started down the stairs, almost afraid that her passage would disturb the spirits of the long dead patrons.

As she walked across the floor, she spotted a dark stain on the carpet, with what looked like a handprint next to it. She paused a moment to consider it, then moved on, putting any thoughts of what could have caused it firmly out of her mind.

Walking across the floor, she noted the other little odds and ends that jumped out at her- like a silver metal cigarette lighter, laying next to a pack of Spud menthols. Picking it up Molly noted that it was slim and covered in delicate filigree- a womans lighter.

Putting it back down, she continued on to the elevator where a Securitron waited.

"Boss is waitin' for ya up top." the robot told her as the doors to the elevator opened.

Not seeing any alternative, she stepped inside and watched the doors close behind her.

Oo000oo000oO

When the elevator doors opened again, Molly stepped out onto a balcony, overlooking a large curved room with outward slanting floor to ceiling windows offering a breath taking view of the Mojave, and a pair of potted palms, still inexplicably alive after almost two centuries.

In front of her, standing by the top of some stairs leading down, was a Securitron with a womans face on the screen. Curiosity getting the better of her, Molly approached the robot.

"Excuse me." she said as she approached the machine. "But who are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm Jane." the robot said, it's cheerful, Southern accented female voice oddly incongruous with it's appearance. "I'm one of Mr House's girls. We keep him ...entertained."

Molly blinked a couple of times, and forced down some of the mental images that statement generated.

"Okay..." Molly said. "Anyways, Mr House. I'm here to talk to him. Which way do I go?" she asked.

"Oh, you'll want to go that a way." Jane chirped, and pointed to Molly's left.

"Thanks." Molly said.

Passing through a doorway, Molly found another robot standing guard, and another set of stairs. Further out in the room, she saw a massive television screen surrounded by a bunch of much smaller screens, and the whole installation flanked by a pair of Securitrons.

Displayed on the main screen was the image of man in his late thirties, maybe early forties. He had the look of a movie star, with slicked hair and a thin mustache. His expression, however, was one that Molly had never seen on the face of any picture of Pre War actors : cool, calculating, intelligence.

"_Oh, this is gonna be fun." _ Molly thought as she started down the stairs.

Walking up to the array, she planted herself ten feet in front of it and stood at ease.

"Mr House?" she asked, looking at the face on the screen.

"Ah. You would be the Courier I hired to ferry the Platinum Chip to me." a voice – she assumed it was House's- came over the speakers. "Only you seem to have ran into some difficulties."

"Yeah, you could say that." Molly replied. "Benny certainly qualifies as 'difficult'."

"Yes." House said. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you. Do know why that chip is so important to me?"

"Because it's shiny?" Molly asked, deciding to play it dumb.

"That chip ..." House began, a note of condescension slipping into his voice "Is the key to several of my long term plans."

"Obviously." Molly said, cocking her head to one side. "Why else would Benny have shot me in the head for it?"

"Don't play stupid with me." House snapped. "You're many things, but you're not stupid."

"No, I'm not." Molly shot back. "I am many things, but right now, the most important part is that I' looking to get the Chip back so I can complete my delivery and get paid."

House chuckled when she said that, which caught Molly by surprise. That was _not_ the reaction she was expecting.

"What?" she asked. "What's so funny?"

"You." House said. "You honestly expect me to believe that? You, who walked into my casino with your body filled with tech that _ I _helped develop in the years before the bombs fell? Subdermal armor, nanocite breeders? You think my Securitrons would not notice these things?"

"And?" she asked. "The Followers offer those enhancements-"

"The enhancements the Followers offer ..." House said, cutting her off "Are the civilian byproducts of technologies that my companies were developing for the government before the war.

The enhancements in your body are related to those technologies. And you've been doing things that no regular human can do – like take on an entire Legion raiding party and live."

Molly had the perfect poker face as House talked.

"What can I say?" she said. "I'm talented."

"Yes." House said. "And then you butchered a legion patrol an hour after you left Nipton, and then an entire camp of Raiders before you got to Novac.

And then when you picked up your companion, you slowed down your reactions. But when you got to Freeside, you started working for the Garrets, and managed to sweet talk and charm your way into getting the whereabouts of the three debtors that owed the Garrets caps- and then proceeded to ruthlessly extract payment from them.

From the woman near the North Gate, you took everything, leaving her nearly naked and defenseless, you convinced your partner to assault that ghoul to force him to give up his caps, and that gigolo you coerced into going to the Atomic Wrangler.

You are a very competent, ruthless, individual. And I would like to put your talents to work."

Molly crossed her arms and looked up at the face of Mr House. "How much?" she asked.

"Four the Platinum Chip, I'll pay double what it says in the contract." House offered.

"Triple." Molly countered. "You ever been shot before, House? It ain't fun."

"Double and a half." House counter-offered. "Triple if you ..._dispose_ of Benny."

Molly smiled. It wasn't a very nice one. "Deal." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors note: And now we start to see some of Molly's history ... and House is now a more involved, manipulative overlord douche bag. As always, read and review.


	7. Chapter 7

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

_Now woman, get away from me_  
><em> American woman, mama let me be<em>  
><em> Go, gotta get away, gotta get away<em>

_American Woman_, by The Guess Who

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

Before she went after Benny, there were preparations that Molly had to do.

First among those preparations was that she obtained a master key from the casino managers office, which was a fairly straightforward proposition, for she had been considerate enough to leave her key ring on her desk before blowing her brains across the back wall of her office.

Molly thanked the woman's skeleton before taking the keys, her pistol (a snub nosed .38 with pink mother of pearl grips and nickel finish), her jewelry, and anything else that looked to be of value from her desk.

The rooms were a treasure trove of Old World artifacts, books, magazines, clothes, cosmetics, you name it. Molly went through them methodically, looking for a few specific item, which she loaded onto a housekeeping cart that she had found abandoned in the hallway.

There was one room though, that Molly just couldn't bring herself to loot. It was a suite with an adjoining bedroom, that had a skeleton sitting in a chair, another wearing the remains of dress lying on the bed- and two small ones lying next to her, a bottle of pills on the nightstand, and neat, round, holes in their temples.

She had stood there for a moment, taking in what was before her and putting together what had happened. Then she had apologized to them for disturbing them, and quietly backed out of the room, locking the door behind her.

As gut wrenching as that one had been, the room where she had opened up a trunk and found a skeleton inside, dressed in a gimp suite, was the most disturbing one of all. She had left that room in a hurry and shut the door behind her.

Thankfully, most of the rooms weren't as bad as those previous rooms. Quite a few had skeletons in them, the occupants deciding that suicide was a better alternative than trying to survive in the radioactive apocalypse.

On the upside, Molly collected a _lot_ of guns and ammo, along with a lot of jewelry and a lot of books and magazines, all of which she piled on the cart.

Also piled on the cart was a cotton sun dress, heels, a handbag, and a hat what went with the dress. All of which got a raised eyebrow from Boone when she wheeled the cart into the Presidential Suite.

"You going on a date?" he asked, watching as Molly took the dress off the cart and hung it up.

"Something like that." Molly answered as the shoes, handbag, and hat followed. "It's for when I go after Benny tomorrow."

"I see." Boone said, and then crouched down to look at the large amount of handguns lying in the cart. "You got enough firepower here, thats for sure."

"Oh, those are merchant bait." Molly said, sparing a glance at the guns. "I'm going in with this."she added, holding up the .38.

"That's it?" Boone asked. "You know what kind fo firepower they have at the Tops?"

"Yeah, and that's where you come in." Molly explained, twirling around to face him. "_You_, you are going to be up in the cocktail lounge with my rifle, providing over watch."

"_Your _rifle?" Boone asked, his tone vaguely offended, as though the thought that his rifle wasn't up to snuff was a personal insult. "Why your rifle?"

"Because it has a can." Molly said, nodding at the weapon in question, lying on her bed. "And if I need you, I don't want them to know where the fire is coming from."

"Ah." Boone said, nodding in understanding. "I think I get what you're planning."

"Good." Molly said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nice, hot, shower and scrub the dust of ages off of me." she added, then looked down at herself and frowned slightly. "Come to think of it, I need to shave my legs and... _other_ areas."

Boone made a surprised choking noise and Molly looked up at him. "What?" she asked him.

"I, ah, um, aaah,.." sputtered Boone, his face turning red.

Smirking, Molly put one hand on her hip and looked at the reddening sniper. "I don't believe this. You, Mr Billy -bad ass sniper, is embarrassed by the thought of me shaving my girly parts?" she asked. "You saw me naked. Didn't you wonder how I got that way?"

"Ah, no, I wasn't staring- I mean, ah..." Boone stammered, clearly uncomfortable with where this conversation was headed.

Molly cocked her head to one side and gave him a look. "You were staring at my tits, weren't you?" she asked.

Boone's blush deepened.

"You were." Molly said. "Well, I don't blame you, they're very nice tits, and I appreciate you looking."

"I- never mind." Boone said. "Excuse me."

Turning on his heel, the now beet red sniper retreated from the room, leaving Molly alone. Chuckling to herself, she gathered up the necessary supplies and headed to the bathroom.

Oo000oo000oO

When she got to the bathroom, she found that the stall closest to the door was occupied, the sound of a shower running emanating from behind the curtain. Sniffing the air, she noted that the air wasn't warm like it normally would be with a shower running.

"Boone?" Molly asked, knocking on the stall wall.

"What?" Boone asked sharply.

"Are you taking a cold shower?" she asked.

"Yes." Boone replied, the slight chatter of his teeth bare audible underneath the sounds of the running shower.

"Oh." Molly said. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-"

"You didn't." Boone said.

"So why are you taking a cold shower?" Molly asked.

Boone was silent for a few moments, and Molly was starting to think that she'd managed to offend him when he spoke. "You're a very attractive woman, Molly." he said. "But, I'm not ready to even think about something like that right now."

"Not even a one night stand?" Molly asked as she turned on the water.

"Not even that." Boone answered.

"What about if I have one?" Molly asked. "Is that a problem for you?"

"No." replied Boone. "That's your personal life, not mine."

"Okay." Molly said as she waited for the water to heat up. "I wouldn't want to make things difficult between us."

"Thanks." Boone grunted.

Frowning for a second, Molly grabbed the bottle of bourbon that she had brought with her and walked over to the other stall.

"Hey, Boone." she said as she thrust the bottle through the curtain. "Here."

"Huh?" Boone asked.

"I figured you probably needed a drink." Molly explained.

"Oh, thanks." Boone said, and took the bottle.

"You're welcome."

Oo000oo000oO

The next morning Molly shimmied into her new dress and encountered a small problem: she couldn't get it zipped all the way.

"Oh, for the love of..." Molly muttered. "Boone!" she called. "I need you to zip me!"

For several moments there was no answer, then Molly smacked herself upside the head. "Dummy! He's up in the cocktail lounge." she muttered. "Oh well, time to improvise."

Exhaling deeply, Molly reached behind her and got the zipper fully closed.

"There we go." she said. "Much better."

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Molly checked how the dress fit on her- it was a size too small, so it fit her... _perfectly_. The upper part of her dress fit her perfectly, hugging her curves, the neckline cut just low enough to show some cleavage.

Molly had forgone wearing a bra, so there was the added benefit that her nipples were just visible through the fabric of her dress. Perfect for what she was going to be doing. Reaching down, she hiked up her skirt and checked the revolver that she had tucked into a holster on her thigh, the rig held in place by a garter belt.

Satisfied that everything was ready, Molly dropped her skirt, smoothed it out, grabbed her hat and handbag, and headed out.

Oo000oo000oO

When she stepped into the Tops, the first thing that Molly noticed was that it was actually in pretty good shape for a casino that had been abandoned for almost two hundred years and then taken over by a bunch of reformed tribals. The carpets were clean, but slightly threadbare. The plants were green and well watered, and the place exuded a general air of cleanliness.

"Hey tots..." a man addressed her, coming from around the front desk towards her. "I gotta ask, you got any weapons on ya?"

"Do I look like the kind of girl who carries guns on her?" Molly asked demurely.

"I'm looking at a couple right now." the man said as he came up to her.

"_And just keep looking at them, buddy." _Molly thought _"Say hello, girls."_

"I'm sure you are." Molly said. "Here, take a look at my bag." she said, holding it up and opening it so he could see.

The man gave her bag a cursory but thorough inspection and nodded. "Okay." he said. "You're clean."

"Told ya.' Molly told him.

"I gotta check." the man said. "One more thing: If you 'find' a gun or what not on the floor, it'd be appreciated if you didn't wave it around."

"Duly noted." Molly said as she closed her handbag.

"Enjoy your visit." the man said as she started walking towards the floor.

"Oh, I will.' Molly said as she spotted an obnoxious black and white checkered coat on the opposite end of the floor.

Threading her way across the floor, Molly carefully approached the man who had shot her in the head. As she approached, she took careful notice of how his body guards were arranged and a dozen plans formed in her head.

"Hey, Benny." she called out to him in a sultry tone as she approached his ring of guards.

Benny stopped and turned around to the voice "Heey, baby, what can Benny do for- Oh God..." his face fell as he trailed off when he saw who had addressed him.

"Can we talk?" Molly asked sweetly.

"Hey, babe, I don't want any trouble." Benny said.

"I'm not looking to start any." Molly replied, leaning against a railing. "I just want to talk."

Benny gave her an incredulous look. "Girl, are you crazy?" he asked.

Molly smirked and shifted her position slightly so her breasts were jutting forwards. "Yeah." she answered, simple and to the point.

"Okay..." Benny said, drawing out the word. "What's your angle, babe?" he asked.

Molly shrugged slightly, which did all sort of interesting things with her chest, which did not escape the attention of Benny and his guards she was quick to notice.

"What can I say, I like bad boys." she replied. "So, how about we go somewhere more private so we can talk?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you really _are_ crazy." Benny said.

"Told ya.' Molly replied. "Nothing like a bullet to the head to get a girls attention."

"Huh." Benny said as he looked down at her with a calculating look. "You're for real."

Molly just grinned and spread her arms wide.

"C'mon." Benny said. "Lets go up to my suite and you can show me just how much you like bad boys."

Smiling, Molly followed him as he headed off to the elevator.

"Don't try anything." one of his guards muttered, low enough that only she could hear him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Molly retorted as she slipped past him.

Oo000oo000oO

"So, babe, you ready for a real good time?" Benny asked as he sauntered towards the bedroom, loosening his tie as he went.

"Yeah." Molly said, closing and locking the suite's double doors.

"Glad to hear it, toots, cause' baby, I'm taking you to moon." Benny said, starting to unbutton his shirt, oblivious to Molly crossing the room towards him. "I think we can- urgh!"

He collapsed like a rag doll from Molly's knife hand strike to his neck, and as he fell she caught him and held him with an ease and grace that spoke of a far greater strength than what it looked like she possessed.

Lowering him to the floor, Molly shifted her arms so they were around his neck, right as cohereant thought returned to Benny.

"Babe, what are you doing- uuurkkkk-!" he gasped out as she tightened her grip on him.

"This." she answered simply, and flexed her arms.

Benny's body spasmed as the vertebra in his neck snapped, his limbs flopping around for a couple of seconds before going limp. His jaw worked up and down a few times as he tried to breath, his last breath exhaling out of his lungs taking his life with it.

Benny slumped to the floor as she let go of him, his eyes becoming glassy and unfocused as his brain shut down from the lack of oxygen. Molly, on the other hand, was wasting no time in rolling his body for whatever he was carrying.

In this case, Molly scored the jackpot, for in the inside pocket of his jacket was the Platinum Chip.

"Score." Molly said, holding up the chip to light before stuffing it safely into her cleavage.

The only other items of use to her was his pistol, heavily engraved and plated in sliver now that she had gotten a closer look at it. An easy mistake to make, especially if you had just gotten cracked over the head and were kneeling next to your own grave.

The other item was his lighter, gold and also engraved. Tossing the lighter in her purse, Molly stood up and looked around at the suite.

"_Well, since I'm here, I might as well toss the place, see if there is anything else of value thats small and easily portable." _she mused, tapping the pistol against her thigh.

Oo000oo000oO

After thoroughly searching the room, the only thing Molly was able to turn up was a safe and a passage to another room that contained a Securitron with a cartoon face on it's display. Not being equipped to deal with a robot if things went south on her, Molly decided to leave it be and concentrate on the safe.

The lock was fairly easy for her to pick, and when she opened the door on it's squeaky hinges she discovered that it contained a single shot grenade launcher, two buckshot rounds, an HE round, a stack of porn mags and what looked like two thousand caps.

Not keen to see what the latest smut rags from New Reno contained, Molly left them and dumped the caps and shells into her purse. Benny's pistol took the place of the .38 in her garter belt rig, and the revolver tossed into the bag with the rest.

That left the launcher. Thinking for a moment, Molly happened to glance down at Benny's corpse, still lying cooling on the floor, and inspiration struck. Crouching down, she relieved him of his belt and shoelaces.

Putting the launcher on the bed, Molly hitched up her skirt and wrapped the belt around her hips, pulling it back to the smallest notch possible. Tying one end of the first shoelace to the belt, Molly was about to thread the free end of the shoelace through the empty swing swivel on the launcher when one of Benny's guards opened the doors to the suite and poked his head in.

"Hey, Boss there's a -what the hell?" he said as his gaze fell on the body of his boss.

He was just starting to look up at Molly when, on instinct, she reached down and drew the pistol in her garter holster and put two rounds into his head.

"Well, shit." she said as the guards body crumpled to the floor. "I thought I locked those."

Flipping the safety back on her pistol, Molly put it back in its holster, grabbed the launcher, broke it open and stuffed a round into the chamber with out checking to see what kind it was.

Snapping the weapon shut, she grabbed her purse and the spare shoelace before heading to the door.

Not knowing the conditions or locations of the stairwells, something that Molly kicked herself for being so sloppy about not knowing, she headed for the elevator. She was about thirty feet away from it when she heard the doors open.

Dropping to one knee, Molly snapped the weapon up to her shoulder and fired through a gap in the potted trees, remembering _after_ she had pulled the trigger that she was carrying a grenade launcher, not a rifle.

An expletive had just started to form in her mind when the explosion knocked her ass over teakettle back down the hall.

Ears ringing, she staggered to her feet and looked down at herself. Amazingly, she had survived the explosion without a scratch.

Molly didn't know it, but when she had fired, the round had clipped one of the branches on the trees, deflecting it up into the roof of the elevator car where it had detonated, killing everyone in the car, which in a stroke of luck was Benny's personal contingent of bodyguards.

It had also destroyed most of the ceiling causing the two hundred odd year old cable attachments to fail along with the anti drop devices and sent the destroyed car plummeting to the basement below.

Not knowing this however, Molly just shook her head to clear the ringing and weaving slightly, headed off down the hall looking for the stairs.

She found the stairs in short order, and thankfully by the time she had gone down two flights of them her hearing was back to normal. Pausing on a landing to take her shoes off, Molly head the pounding of feet and voices below.

She figured that by the amount of noise coming up the stairs there were more guys than she could handle with what she was armed with, and spotting an alcove, hid in it, desperately hoping that this tactic was going to work.

Much to her relief, it did and the group of guards thundered past her without noticing her. Letting out the breath she had been holding, Molly took a second to reconsider her situation and came up with a different plan on how to get out of there.

Listening carefully, she didn't hear any more people coming charging up the stairs and so she the launcher down in the corner and hitched her skirt back up. Taking the launcher, she threaded the shoestring that was still tied to the belt circling her hips through the swing swivel on the fore end.

Tying it off, she then took a small folding knife she had in her bag and cut off the excess shoelace. She then took this portion and looped it through the trigger guard before tying it around her leg. Putting her skirt back down, Molly smoothed it back down and after experimentally moving around a bit, saw that it was moving around too much and that the pleated skirt of the sun dress concealed it effectively.

Satisfied, she then picked up her shoes and purse, and resumed heading back down the stairs.

Oo000oo000oO

Cracking the door open, Molly peeked out through the crack at the casino floor. There were people milling around in confusion, employees were rushing to and fro taking care of things- and nobody was paying attention to the stairwell.

Pulling the door the rest of the way open, she stepped out into the crowd and began sauntering towards the front doors. Thanks to the flaming elevator crashing to earth in the basement, no one paid her any mind and she was able to walk out of the casino with out any trouble at all.

As soon as she stepped out into the hot dry air outside Molly took a deep breath and exhaled. Looking around, she saw that there was the usual early afternoon traffic for the Strip, no one was running towards her waving weapons, so she figured that it was safe to assume that she had made it out in the clear.

Nonchalantly, she began walking towards the gate. As she walked she looked up at the tower of the Lucky 38, towering over the Strip, and imagined Boone up there with her rifle, keeping an eye on her.

Waving up at the tower, she continued on her way.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone was waiting for her when she came into the Lucky 38, her rifle slung over her shoulder.

"You okay?" Boone asked as she walked up to him.

"Yeah." she answered. "It was a piece of cake. I got the chip, plus some other stuff."

"Other stuff?" Boone asked.

"A grenade launcher and Benny's handgun." Molly explained, hiking up her skirt to show Boone the weapons in question. "I also managed to snag what looks like a couple of thousand in caps and a couple of rounds worth of ammo for the launcher." she added, shaking her purse for emphasis.

Boone grunted and nodded his head once. "Good. Here's your rifle back." he said, unslinging her weapon and handing it over to her.

"Thanks." Molly said and slung it over her shoulder before starting to dig around in her cleavage. "Now. If you'll excuse me, I got a delivery to complete."

Oo000oo000oO

End.


	8. Chapter 8

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

_What's your name, little girl?_

_What's your name?_

_Shootin' you straight, little girl_

_What' your name?_

_What's your name? _By Lynyrd Skynyrd

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

Molly walked down the staircase to where House's terminal was installed and strode over to it.

"Well, I'm back." she announced as she came up to him.

"Did you get the chip?" House asked.

"Yeah." Molly answered and reached into her cleavage. "Here it is." she said, withdrawing the chip and holding it up.

"Excellent." House said. "Now put it in the slot."

Molly looked at House's face on the screen, then the slot on the console, then to the chip, then back to House.

"This isn't going to be one of those go mad with with power things?" she asked. "'cause if it is-"

"It's a software upgrade." House snapped. "For my Securitrons."

Molly looked over at the robot hulking over by the console. "Uh huh." she said, twirling the chip across her knuckles. "Large hulking death machines getting upgraded really isn't that much of a-"

"If I truly was the type of cliche villain that you find in the pages of those tawdry pulp magazines, don't you think I would have had my Securitrons shoot you?" House asked in an annoyed tone.

Molly thought for a second, glanced at the chip, then back at House. "Whatever makes you sleep at night." she said, and then walked over to the terminal and slapped the chip into the slot.

The reaction was almost immediate. There was a click, and then the hum of electronics. Next to her, the Securitron slumped over, the screen going blanks while the automatic stability systems keeping the machine upright as the main systems rebooted.

Then there was 'clunk',and the machine powered back up as the systems came back online, the screen flickering as a new face came on the screen, a cartoon image of a soldier appearing in place of the policeman.

"If you would follow the Securitron to the elevator, I'll show you what this upgrade means and perhaps you won't be so reluctant to help me..." House said.

"Before that," Molly said, holding up her hand "Payment is due for services rendered. I snapped Benny's fucking neck and blew a bunch of his guys to hell."

House sighed in annoyance at Molly's request. "Of course. You needn't worry, I haven't forgotten our arrangement." he said as a new Securitron rolled into view carrying a sack in one hand. "Here you go, as specified in our deal: Three thousand caps, receivable upon termination of Benny."

"Thank you." Molly said, taking the caps and looking at the first Securitron. "Well, lead on." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

The elevator took her all the way to the basement of the casino, where she found herself walking into a large, cavernous space filled with machinery and piping that by her best guess, fed various services in the building.

In front of her was an elevated platform, with a table and a row of sandbags behind a photonic resonance field. House started speaking as she walked forwards towards the platform.

"My files show that you have been in New Vegas several times, so I'm sure you know what Securitrons were capable of." he said.

"Yeah." Molly nodded. "Gatling laser and a pistol caliber automatic weapon." Molly said, noting that there was a pair of binoculars, an ammo can, a subgun, and a pistol, both weapons being 9mm, and a pack of cigarettes.

"Yes. But what you don't know is that the Securitrons come with grenade and missile launchers for long range offensive capabilities, along with an automated self repair system, the drivers for which are not contained within the Mark One operating system." House continued. "However, the Mark Two operating system,"

"Which is contained on the Platinum Chip." Molly finished for him as she helped herself to the stuff on the table. "Which really gives you a tactical boost.." she said. "But there's more to it than that, isn't there?"

"You," House said, a trace of amusement in his voice "are a very prescient woman."

Molly shrugged, the equipment she'd grabbed rattling. "I have my moments." she said.

"Which, like I said earlier, is why I would like to continue to retain your services." House said. "We can discuss this further upstairs."

"Agreed." Molly said, and shook one of the cigarettes out of it's box.

Oo000oo000oO

"You smoke." House commented as Molly came into what she had mentally dubbed the monitor room.

"Only occasionally." she responded. "So, what's your offer?" she asked.

"What you were paid for delivering the chip, three thousand caps, per completion of every assignment." House offered. "And bonuses if you complete on time of ahead of schedule."

Molly ran the economics of operating in the Mojave with what he was offering through her mind and liked what she saw.

"Throw in Boone and I using this place to crash and you've got a deal." she said.

"Agreed." House said. "Now that we have that out of the way, I have your first assignment: The Securitrons I have on the Strip are not the only ones I have." he said. "There is another group of them at Fortification Hill, in a bunker I built there, before the war."

"And, let me guess, you want me, to go down there, and break into the bunker, and upgrade them for you." Molly stated.

"Exactly." House said, smug satisfaction creeping into his voice.

"You want me to kill Caesar while I'm at it?" Molly asked sarcastically.

"Absolutely not! Caesar is of great use to me!" House said emphatically.

"You're kidding, right?" Molly asked. "He's a fucking monster."

"He's a useful monster." House corrected her. "And for my long term plans, the continued existence of the Legion is not part of them. The Legion will be dealt with, just when _I _want them dealt with."

"_And meanwhile, the Mojave will have to pay the butchers bill."_ Molly thought sourly. "Just so you know, the Legion wants my head on a pike. Getting into Fortification Hill is not going to be easy." she pointed out.

"Yes, I know that." House said, his tone reminding Molly of an annoyed schoolteacher. "But you seem to be fairly capable at manipulating men. I'm sure you can think of _something_."

Molly didn't like the emphasis that he put on the last word, but let it go. This was a chance to earn some good caps, no sense in being stupid and losing.

"Yeah, whatever." she said, and took one last drag from her cigarette before crushing it out in her fist and dropping it into a nearby ashtray.

"Before you go, you will need this." House said as the Securitron who had escorted her to the basement elevator took the Platinum Chip out of it's slot and handed it to her. "There's an abandoned weather station on top of the bunker. This will open the hatch on that bunker, and enable you to upgrade the Securitrons as well."

"Thanks." Molly said as she took the chip and stuffed it into her cleavage.

"That's certainly a secure storage method." House commented as she walked towards the stair.

"You have no idea, Mr House." Molly commented.

Oo000oo000oO

After hitting the Presidential Suite for a quick change into something more comfortable (her armor and her guns) Molly found Boone in the entertainment lounge of the suite, lying on a couch, reading a book.

"Hey, Boone, get your stuff. We're going for a drink." Molly said, leaning over the man.

"Why not just stay here and get a drink?" Boone asked her.

"Because this place is as quiet as as a tomb, and I like to drink in noisy places." Molly said. "Now get up."

Boone merely marked his place and got up.

Ten minutes later, they both were standing on the steps of the Lucky 38, wondering where they should go.

"Well, the Gomorrah's out." Molly said, looking at said edifice of wretched, shameful debauchery with a look of distaste. "Not to mention the Tops."

"Thanks to you shooting their boss." Boone pointed out.

"I didn't shoot him, I beat his head in." Molly said, fibbing slightly on the method she used in the demise of Benny. No sense in Boone asking questions in how she had the strength to break Benny's neck- or how she got him _in _that position.

"That leaves the Vault 21- what?" Boone asked when Molly cocked her head to one side.

"You hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what- oh." Boone said as his ears picked up what Molly was hearing.

"-ooooOOOOLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY!"

The next thing they knew, Molly was bowled over by a five and a half foot tall missile with neon purple hair.

"The hell?" Boone asked no one in particular.

"MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY ..." the girl latched onto Molly in a death grip chanted.

"Aaack! Air Air!" Molly croaked.

"MollyMollyMo- oh." the girls said, finally realizing that she was unintentionally choking the life out of Molly "Sorry!"

"AMI! Breath!" Molly said as she extracted herself from the mad grip of the purple haired girl.

"ButIwassoworriedaboutyou-" the girl, Ami, started babbling on again until Molly hauled back and slapped her across the face.

Her head lolled around from the force of the blow, her eyes staring off into space with her mouth agape. Then she recovered and shook her head, sitting up straight. .

"Thanks, I needed that." she said, rolling off of Molly and standing up.

"You're welcome." Molly said, standing up and dusting herself off. "Boone, meet one of my coworkers, Damian Bjornson." she said.

That's when the girl noticed Boone for the first time. "Oh!" she exclaimed perkily. "How are you? You can call me Ami." the girl said, extending her hand.

"Okay." Boone said, shaking the girls hand. "Nice to meet you." he added.

"Likewise." the girl said, bouncing on her heels and giving him a beaming smile.

"So." Molly said, getting the girls attention. "You heard from Old Man Johnson that I'd gotten shot and you went looking for me?"

"Yeah." Ami said. "I was making an express run when I heard the news, and by the time I was able to get to your last stop, you'd already passed through again, so I just started following your trail."

"Oh, thank you." Molly said, and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome." Ami said, blushing slightly.

"Are you okay for caps?" Molly asked. "It's a long way from Primm to Vegas-"

"I'm okay." Ami answered. "Since I was heading this way anyways and Johnson figured I'd be in a hurry, he gave me a couple of packages to deliver. One of them was pretty weird though. It was this bright green rubber penis, and I had to take it to the Atomic Wrangler, where this scary deathclaw looking lady signed for it..."

Molly gave a sputtering snort and covered her mouth with her hand.

"What?" Ami asked, baffled by Molly's reaction. "What's so funny?"

"I -I know that woman..." Molly choked out, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "Francine Garret mail ordered... a ... _dildo?"_

At that point Molly lost control and doubled over laughing, Ami watching her in puzzlement.

"I don't get it." she said, then looked at Boone. "Whats so funny?" she asked him.

Boone, who had seen Francine (and now that he thought about it, she _did_ have a 'deathclaw-like' air about her) and the thought of a stern, no nonsense woman like her ordering a sex toy... well, he had a very good poker face.

"And people say _I'm_ weird." Ami said as Molly recovered from her laughing fit.

"Oh man... I am _so_ gonna let her have it for that..." Molly said as she straightened back up.

"Please don't!" Ami begged her. "If you do that, she;ll think that I told you and then she'll come after me and eat me-"

"Relax." Molly told her, clapping her on the shoulder. "She'd have to catch you first, and we both know that you're the fastest thing on two feet in the whole Mojave, and second of all, I'd put in a good word for you and have her back off."

"Oh, thank goodness." Ami said, sighing in relief. "I was worried there for a second." she added, then perked up again. "So, what are you two doing?" she asked.

"Going to get a drink." Molly answered.

"May I come?" Ami chirped.

Molly looked over at Boone, who shrugged. "I don't care." he said.

"Sure." Molly told her. "We were thinking about going to the Atomic Wrangler."

Ami gulped nervously at the mention of that Casino. "Do we have to?" she asked. "Couldn't we go to the Tops instead?"

Molly shook her head. "Can't." she answered. "The Tops has a bit of an issue with me at the moment."

"Why?" Ami asked in a suspicious tone. "Molly, what or who did you do?" she asked.

"Oh." Molly said with another shrug. "You remember those six packages that came through? You were number three?"

"Uh huh." Ami said as they started walking to the gate.

"Well, long story short, the head of the Tops tried to kill me and took the package." Molly explained. "So I killed him right back and took back the package. I just finished making the delivery."

"Okay." Ami said. "If he was dumb enough to try and pick on you, he deserved what he got." she added, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, that reminds me. There's a couple of people looking for you."

Molly sighed as they walked through the gate into Freeside. "They're probably Legion. Me and Boone have had some run ins with them, and now they don't like us-"

"They're not Legion." Ami told her. "One's a little Khan girl. She's hanging around the gate in here, muttering about getting what's hers and a blue haired fat ass. I didn't make the connection until just now."

"Pfft! Don't worry about her, Ami. She's no threat." Molly said with a wave of her hand. "Who's the other one?"

Ami was silent for a few moments before she answered. "He calls himself Ulysses." she said. "He wears the flag of the Old World on his back."

"fuck." was Molly's response.

"You know him?" Ami asked.

"Yeah. He's an old associate of mine." Molly told her. "We have a bit of history together, and, well, now I need a drink."

"It didn't end well?" Ami asked.

"You have _no_ idea, Ami." Molly answered.

Oo000oo000oO

As they walked through Freeside, Molly and Ami talked while Boone characteristically kept silent. This gave him a chance to get a good look at the girl while he kept an eye on their surroundings.

The first thing that stood out was, of course her bright purple hair. One thing thing that stood out was its color, or more specifically, it's uniformity. It was purple all the way down to the roots.

That meant she had either had gotten it dyed that very day (unlikely, Boone figured that she would have mentioned it in her babbling) or that it was natural. A quick look at her eyebrows confirmed it, her hair was indeed bright purple.

Moving on from her hair, he was a bit off his estimate of her height. Ami had to be about five four at most, with dark brown skin. Keeping with her Asian features, she had large dark blue almond eyes that were alert and intelligent, taking in everything around her.

A younger Boone would have described her figure as "slender but awesome", with an "awesome" ass. A part of him couldn't help but notice the contrast between Ami and Molly's rear end's.

Ami's had a nice perky twitch to it, versus the rhythmic swaying of Molly's. The leather armor dyed a very dark purple didn't hurt either. Along with it she had a pair of forest green shemagh's wrapped around her head and neck as protection against the sun and wind blown sand of the Mojave.

What really interested him was her choice of weapons: a trail rifle and a hunting revolver, both in .45-70. Her pistol belt was a little different though, with a pair of large pouches on the front instead of cartridge loops.

All in all, she was an attractive, attentive, and very distinctive young lady.

"-and so then a bunch of clowns burst in-"

Make that a very _strange_ young lady.

Oo000oo000oO

The Atomic Wrangler turned out to be dead, which was not surprising considering the part of the day it was, so they turned around and headed out the door. As they were leaving, Molly remembered that she needed to talk with the Garrets about one of the outstanding jobs they had with them and ducked back inside while Ami and Boone waited outside.

"So, what are you?" Ami asked Boone as they waited.

"Excuse me?" Boone asked.

"What are you?" Ami repeated. "Tit's, ass, legs?"

"I really don't see how that's any of your business." Boone said. "But it's none of those."

Ami's eyebrows arched up towards her hairline. "None?" she asked. "So you like guys-"

"No." Boone said firmly. "I am a heterosexual. I just do not share the shame obsession of a woman's attributes like the rest of the male population."

"So what do you obsess over?" Ami asked.

Boone ground his molars and reminded himself that she was Molly's friend and so he should at least _try_ to be polite to her. He also remembered why he became a sniper- it was a lot easier to deal with people from eight hundred yards out.

"Are you normally this prying with strangers?" he asked.

"When they hang around with my friends, yes." the purple haired girl responded. "So, what do you obsess over?"

Boone sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Yes, it _was_ much easier to deal with someone from eight hundred yards out.

"I can understand your concern, but I don't see how your question would be relevant." he told Ami.

"Oh, it's very relevant." Ami told him. "In case you haven't noticed, Molly's bi. I need to make sure that you two have compatible tastes."

Boone blinked, stunned by the girls frank admission. "First of all..." he said. "I know she's bisexual. We stopped for the night at the 188 and she was flirting with a girl there."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, Veronica." she said. "I ran into her too. She's cute, in a sarcastic sort of way."

Boone gave her a long look when she said that.

"Are you-?" he asked.

"Bi." Ami chirped, giving him a cheeky smile. "Sex is fun, with boys or girls. Or both."

"Do your parents know that you're this way?" Boone asked.

Ami nodded. "Yeah. My dad caught me in the hayloft with Jimmy Stoger and his sister Betty when I was fifteen." she answered.

"He must have been so thrilled." Boone said dryly.

Ami chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck. "Ah, yeah, you could say that." she said, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. "Betty was my youngest brother's ex. He was off at boot camp at the time."

Boone stared at the girl for moment, then shook his head. "You don't do anything by halves, do you?"

"Nope!" Ami responded, beaming. "So, back to my original question: What is it?"

"_She's not going to stop until I tell her, and if I don't tell her, this conversation is just going to get more and more surreal..."_ Boone thought as he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again.

"Alright, you win." he said. "Eyes. I like eyes, the shape, the color..."

"Oh." Ami said, nodding. "That... actually makes sense, for a sniper." she said, then tilted her head to one side as a thought struck her. "What do you think of my eyes?"

All who knew Boone would say that he was a very blunt, to the point, type of person. The type for whom subtlety or caring for others feelings was an alien concept. However, not even he would be crass enough to snub a woman if she asked him about his looks.

"They're very pretty." he said. "I like the shade of blue they are. It reminds me of the sky when it's starting to get to sundown, and they don't miss a thing."

"Aww..." Ami said, and then enveloped him in a hug. "You're such a sweetie."

Boone could only grunt in response as he felt the breath being squeezed out of him.

"Cripes, where the hell did you get so strong?" he asked when she let go of him.

"My family are Brahman ranchers." she told him. "Shoveling shit and throwing hay."

"Good grief." Boone said.

Ami chuckled at Boone's response, then frowned as another thought occurred to her. "I wonder how your thing is going to work with hers..." she wondered aloud.

"Since you're going to probably tell me anyways, what does she like?" Boone asked.

"I'm an ass woman." Molly said, making them both jump as she grabbed them on the butt and gave a playful squeeze. "And I must say, _damn_ Boone." she added, giving an appreciative look at his rear.

"Firm?" Ami asked.

"Rock hard." Molly informed her.

"oooh..."

"You're both disgusting." Boone said, scowling at the two women, who giggled. "Did you get the information that you needed?" he asked.

"Yeah." Molly answered him. "I figure we can take care of it when we get back."

Boone grunted and waited for the two women to figure out what they were going to do next.

"So now what?" Ami asked. "The Wrangler's dead right now, we can't go to the Tops..."

"I'd like to go back and finish reading my book." Boone said.

"That's not the worst idea I've ever heard..." Molly said.

"But it does sound kind of dull." Ami added. "This is New Vegas. It's supposed to be fun!"

"Vegas is fun only if you like wasting your caps on gambling or tacky entertainment." Boone told her.

"That's true..." Ami agreed. "I risk my life enough as it is being a courier. What do I need to gamble for?"

"Good point." Molly said. "But still, what to do?"

Ami thought for a second. "I'm horny." she said, her mouth once again operating with out any oversight from her brain.

Molly snapped her fingers. "Ami, where are you staying at?" she asked.

"Vault 21." answered the purple haired girl.

"There we go."Molly said. "Boone, why don't you go back to the Lucky 38 and read your book. Ami and I are gonna be at the Vault, seeing if we cant break the bed."

"Yaaay!" Ami cried.

Boone just shook his head and headed for the Strip North Gate.

"So how did end up staying in the Lucky 38?" Ami asked as Boone walked away.

"I'll explain on the way over." Molly said.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Author's note: One thing that always bugged me about using the Black Widow method of retrieving the Chip was the fact is that he's a casino boss. That means he's on call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. He would have people coming up to him regularly to bug him about one thing or another that required his attention.

And lets not forget all the other irons he has in the fire. So yes, the Courier would have a very good chance of being discovered by _someone_. So, hence the poor schmuck walking in on Molly getting shot in the head.

As for Ami, well. She's a _lot_ of fun to write. You're going to be seeing more of her from time to time.

And as always, please review.

ZB.


	9. Chapter 9

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

_We're angels with dirty faces_  
><em>Livin' all alone<em>  
><em>Angels with dirty faces<em>  
><em>So far from home<em>

Oo000oo000oO

_Angels With Dirty Faces, _by Warlock

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's eyes cracked open and she found herself looking up at a metal ceiling.

"_This isn't ERB Yakima..."_ she thought fuzzily.

She blinked a couple of times and then she remembered where she was.

"_Oh, right, this is the Vault 21 Casino." _ she thought.

And now that she was more awake, she realized that there was something soft and warm lying up against her, like someone was using her as a body pillow, and the person was moving ever so slightly.

"_Ami." _thought Molly. _"This is Ami's room. I came here so I could sleep with her." _

Molly lifted her head up and found herself looking at Ami, who was indeed lying up against her, her mouth happily clamped on Molly's nipple. Feeling Molly's body shift, she looked up at her.

"Morninpfh." she said with her mouth full.

"Morning,": Molly replied, brushing Ami's bangs back from her face. "You know I gotta get going, right?" she asked.

Ami nodded, mouth still over her nipple. "Yeaph." she said. "Buph canph youph stayph ahph lipplph biph morph?"

Molly shook her head sadly. "No, sorry." she said. "I wish it was otherwise."

"Aaaph." Ami said, and lifted her head, Molly's nipple clamped firmly but gently in her teeth. "You never told me where you were going."

"Nnh." Molly grunted. "Legion territory, for Mr House."

Ami's mouth went slack and Molly's tit slipped out. "What?" she squeaked, worry flooding her face. "What're you doing-"

Molly put a finger on Ami's lips. "Shh." she said. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"But-" Ami said, pulling her head away from Molly's finger. "- the Legion..."

"I'll be _fine_." Molly insisted, propping herself up on an elbow and cupping Ami's chin in her hand. "They can't get me, remember?"

Ami whimpered slightly and Molly sat up in bed. "C'mere." she said, and pulled her into a hug. "I'll be fine." she said, holding her tight. "I'll still be around when you're old and gray, okay?"

"You sure?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Molly said. "I'll be there."

"Okay." Ami said with a sniffle.

"Don't cry." Molly said, breaking their embrace and wiping a tear from Ami's eye. "I told you, I'll be fine. Now lets get up and get going. We both have places to be."

"Okay." Ami said.

Climbing out of bed after Ami, Molly started looking for her clothes, and as she did she couldn't help but notice Ami's naked body.

"You know, that's gonna take a while to get used to." she said, nodding at Ami's chest.

"Huh?" she asked, and looked down at herself. "What's wrong with my chest?" she asked.

Molly found her panties and stood up to face her purple haired friend. "Well..." she said, lifting one leg so she could step into them "They're glowing."

"And what's wrong with that?" Ami asked, cupping said luminescent appendages. "They're still cute and perky, they just glow."

"Yeah." Molly said, pulling up her panties. "But I never said I minded the glowing. I just said it's gonna take a while to get used to."

"Okay." Ami said. "Though I have to say, who knew that eating a Golden Gecko kabob with glowing cave mushrooms washed down with a Nuka Cola Victory could give you glowing boobs?"

"Certainly not me." Molly said, locating her bra.

Ami on the other hand put her hands on her hips. "Now where the hell are _my _panties?" she asked, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right, I didn't wear panties!" she said, then reached over to her bag and dug out a pair.

Molly just shook her head and kept dressing.

Oo000oo000oO

"Morning Boone." Molly said as she walked into the lobby of the Lucky 38.

"Morning." Boone said, sitting on the steps, with their packs leaning up against the steps "You have fun?"

"Yeah." Molly said, and massaged her shoulder. "Man, though, I gotta say, that girl's strong as a Brahman."

"I know." Boone said, getting to his feet. "She hugged me."

"Did she break any ribs?" Molly asked, walking over to take her pack.

"No, but I don't think it's entirely impossible." Boone said, and grunted as he hefted her backpack and held it out to her. "Your pack."

"Thanks." Molly said and took her pack with a grunt. "You're not exactly a weakling yourself." she said. "This thing has to weigh fifty pounds."

"My parents were scrap prospectors." he answered simply.

"Ah." Molly said and shouldered her pack.

"So what about you?" he asked. "You've got plenty of strength yourself."

"Lot's of exercise." Molly said as Boone shrugged on his pack. "So, I was thinking that we can hit the Gun Runners kiosk."

"Anti-Material Rifle?" Boone asked as they started walking to the door.

"Among other things." Molly said. "And get a can for your rifle."

"A can?" Boone asked.

"Suppressor." Molly clarified. "You need one."

"I did not realize that I needed one." Boone said.

"Well, you do." Molly said as they stepped outside. "Silence _is_ golden after all."

Boone had seen how effective Molly was with her can -equipped rifle. "You have a point." he admitted.

"Thanks." Molly said.

Oo000oo000oO

They left the Gunrunners kiosk down quite a bit of caps, NCR cash, and Legion coinage, but up an Anti -Material Rifle and a set of reinforced Mark Two combat armor that needed some new straps and such.

The suit's condition was not good, but the plates were solid and the straps could be easily repaired or replaced with some tanned gecko hide that she had strapped to her pack.

"_Something to do around the campfire."_ she mused, taking a swig from her canteen.

Next to her, Boone shifted his rifle and did the same. They were standing on top of a large boulder, using the elevation it provided to survey the countryside and see what was out there, and avoid if need be.

As they scanned the area, Molly saw a crow rise up into the air, cawing loudly.

"Boone."

"What?" the man asked.

"I think we're being followed." she said.

"So what do you want to do?" Boone asked.

"First, lets get out of their sight." Molly said. "In the shadow of the rock. Look casual about it."

"Right."

Clambering down off the rock, they got into it's shadow and Molly then dumped her pack.

"You stay here, guard the gear." she explained, digging around inside her pack. "I'm gonna take this-" she held up a Stealth Boy "-and double back on them."

"Okay." Boon said.

Slipping the device onto her wrist, Molly flicked a switch and tapped a couple of buttons on it, and then she went invisible.

"Have fun." the patch of heat mirage that was Molly told Boone, and then she was gone.

Swinging wide, she snuck through the scrub, keeping an eye on the area that the crow came from. Pausing from time to time, Molly scanned the area around her for movement before moving, keeping herself in a low crouch. She might have been invisible or close to it, but she could still be seen.

After about ten minutes of this, she went past the spot that she wanted to check out and started to angle in on it, taking a long looping path. She was about twenty yards away when she spotted a pair of black boots sticking out from under a bush.

"_Got ya!" _Molly thought with a smile.

Drawing her pistol, Molly took a very careful look around that her mystery stalker didn't have any backup, and seeing none, started stalking forwards. As she approached, more details of the person became apparent:

The person was wearing snug fitting blue jeans which were tucked into the boots. There was a black leather vest with a logo on it, and the persons figure was slender, but definitely feminine, and long black hair-

"_Oh, crap. It's that Khan girl." _Molly thought in annoyance when she was about five yards away.

When she was standing over the girl, Molly crouched down and placed the muzzle of her pistol against the back of the girls head.

"Got ya." Molly said.

The girl stiffened, then chuckled. "What ever you say, fatass." she said. "I've been following you and your murderer boy friend for the last three hours."

"Bitter Springs is what you guys got for kicking the Bear." Molly told her. "Hands where I can see em'."

The girl sighed and held her hands out in front of her. "So, you guys out looking for more people to murder?" the girl asked as Molly stepped back.

"On your feet. _Slowly._" Molly said, not rising to the girls verbal baiting. "And keep your hands up and out where I can see them."

The girl growled in irritation that Molly wasn't rising to her bait, but complied anyways.

"So what are we doing here?" the girl asked. "You gonna kill me? Or you gonna let your boyfriend do it?"

"We're not gonna kill you." Molly told her. "Even though I should, seeing as how you were sneaking up on us with with a varmint rifle."

"I wasn't gonna kill ya." the girl said. "I was just waiting for a chance to get the drop on ya."

"You were going to try and stick us _up?_"Molly asked in surprise. "That's a new one. Hands on your head."

"Yeah, fatass." the girl said as she did so. "I want my belt back."

"It's _my_ belt, kid." Molly said, holstering her pistol and grabbing the girls hands with her left hand. "And my name is Molly, not fatass."

"Yeah, right." the girl said as Molly began to pat her down.

"You really thought you could get the drop on us?" Molly asked.

The girl was silent for a few moments. "You and your boyfriend each pissed once, had a snack, you smoked two cigarettes, and shot a blue gecko."

"Were you the one that was following me outside of Goodsprings?" Molly asked.

"No." the girl said, annoyance in her voice. "Jessup, that dumb fuck had me stay back. If I had been there we woulda got you with no problem."

"Hm." Molly said, then frowned as she felt up inside the girls vest and felt her ribs. "Cripes, girl, don't you eat? I can feel your ribs."

"I've been having a bad run." the girl answered cryptically.

"Don't your parents feed you?" Molly asked.

"I don't have any." the girl told. "And I'm not very important."

Molly just shook her head and kept with her pat down.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's pat down turned up a length of steel pipe, twenty three rounds of 5.56 for a rather beat up but still serviceable varmint rifle, a small fixed knife, some matches, and that was it.

The girl carried no other gear, no canteen, not even a blanket.

"Okay." Molly said, picking up the girls rifle. "Just how the hell did you think you were gonna pull this off with no gear?"

"Easy. Live off the land, like I usually do." the girl answered. "Water's there, if you know how to look. Same thing with stuff to eat."

"I know that." Molly said. "But no blanket, no other gear, and just over twenty rounds? At best, you'd end up passed around by a bunch of Powder Gangers."

"Wouldn't be the first time." the girl muttered.

Molly sighed and spun the girl around to face her. "Okay." she said, noting that the girl did get an awesome shiner from when Jessup hit her "What the hell is your problem?"

"What?" the girl asked.

"You." molly said. "From the sound of it, you have a really crappy life back in the Khans. Why are you staying there?"

"It's all I got." the girl said. "Can I drop my hands? My arms are getting tired."

"Sure." Molly said, then frowned for a moment. "Hey. You want my belt, right?"

"Yeah." the girl answered, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What about it?"

"If you want it, you got a chance to get it." Molly said. "We're going to Fortification Island."

"What?" the girl squeaked. "The Legion's main camp?"

"Yep." Molly told her. "You want my belt, you gotta come with us."

The girl fretted for a moment, then her stubbornness won out. "Alright." she said. "You win fatass. I'm coming along." she said. "Gimme back my gun."

Smirking, Molly handed the girl back her rifle. "Here you go." she said. "Let's go, Mosquito Bites."

"My name is Sara!" the girl argued.

"Call me Molly, and I'll call you by your name." Molly said as she started walking.

Oo000oo000oO

"So that's it?" Sara whispered.

"You don't need to whisper." Molly said. "They can't hear us from here."

"So what the hell are we doing here?" Sara asked.

"We're here for three reasons." Molly told her. "First, this is the best spot to observe The Fort on the NCR side of the Colorado. That leads to the second reason, which is that this is the _closest _point to The Fort, which puts us in range of that little toy of Boone's there."

Boone shoved the bolt forward and slapped the handle down, the action on the massive rifle locking up like a bank's vault. Smirking, he brought the rifle up to his shoulder and sighted in on The Fort.

"And they know that, which is the third reason why we're here. They see move movement here, they're gonna keep a close eye on this place. Which means that they're not going to be paying attention to some other place." Molly continued.

"You're gonna swim over there and sneak in?" Sara asked, turning her attention back to The Fort.

"Yep." Molly told her.

"Fucking hell, you're both crazy." Sara said with a groan.

"Pretty much." Molly said.

Oo000oo000oO

The sun sank below the horizon, and on the scenic overlook at Camp Guardian Boone lay in his shooting position behind some sand bags and kept an eye on The Fort. Next to him Sara lay curled up behind the barrier of sandbags and helped herself to the biltong in Molly's pack.

"You know, I don't think Molly would like you eating all of her food." Boone commented.

"I'm not." Sara answered. "And she told me to eat as much as I like."

Boone grunted and kept on his vigil.

Meanwhile, down near the water, on the side of the cliff that was out of sight of the The Fort Molly stood on a rock and stared at the water.

"_I really hope that there isn't a Lakelurk in there..." _she thought with a sigh.

Molly had taken the plates off of her armor and was wearing the black knit under clothing, giving her a set of crude but effective sneaking attire. On her back was a sealed bag with a Stealth Boy, her belt and her 10mm, a couple of scarves cut from a spare blanket, and her boots.

Molly had darkened her face and hands with some face paint made from lard taken from the supplies of the abandoned camp guardian mixed with some charred wood from an old campfire.

"_Here we go." _Molly thought, and taking a deep breath, stepped off the rock and began wading out into the water.

The ground dropped away quickly from the shore, and soon Molly found herself treading water. Getting her bearings, she struck out for the island. As she came around the point, she took a breath and dove beneath the surface of the water.

"_I'd kill for some rebreather gear right about now." _echoed through Molly's head as she swam.

She swam until her lungs burned, then surfaced. Without breaking her stroke, she exhaled and took another breath, then dove beneath the surface again. Using this method, she was able to swim to the opposite side of The Fort, and carefully swam to shore.

When she hit the beach, she didn't hear any shouts or gunfire, so Molly figured that she was unseen. Finding a large boulder, she hid in it's shadow and quietly geared up. A few minutes later, she loped out from behind the boulder and began sneaking up to the walls of The Fort.

It took her forty five minutes to close the distance to the wall, using every bit of shadow and cover to hide her approach to the walls. When she made it to the wall, Molly stopped and listened for several minutes for any sentries.

Not hearing anything, Molly swore mentally when she saw that the corrugated metal of the wall didn't offer any hand holds. Going right, she carefully padded along the wall, noting that there wasn't a foot path along the wall, which meant that they didn't run patrols along it- which was a good thing in this situation.

After sneaking along for about fifty feet, she lucked out. There was a rather large gap where the sheets of metal making up the wall were badly bent and gave her a way in. And as icing on the cake, it was right at the abandoned weather station.

Checking the metal, Molly found that it was attached securely and so then carefully slipped her way through. When she was through, she took her Stealth Boy out and activated it. Figuring that the front door wouldn't be near the antenna, she went right and carefully peeked around the corner.

What she saw was the door, the sentry guarding the door, and a training area beyond that, thankfully deserted. Thinking for a moment, she drew back and went over to the other side to take a look at what she could see there.

From the other corner she could see a lot of tent, but there was no one stirring over there as well. Not seeing anyone, Molly had a good idea on what to do, and picked up a pebble.

Going back to the other corner, Molly peeked around and saw that the guard was still where he was, staring straight ahead. Chucking the pebble over his head, it went soaring out and hit one of the training dummy's they had set up.

"Huh?" the guard said, turning to face where the noise had came from.

The next and last thing he said was a startled gurgle as the blade of Molly's knife slipped between his vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. Leaving her knife in him, she grabbed him before he could fall and opened the door.

Walking backwards dragging him in, she shut the door and then looked around. She was able to quickly locate where the entrance was and punched the button on the wall. With experienced ease, she drug the corpse of the guard down the stairwell to the hatch that lead to House's bunker.

Setting the body down, Molly pulled her shirt up and reached into her cleavage to where she had hid the Platinum Chip. Pulling it out, she placed it in the slot and the hatch clicked, swinging open like it was brand new.

Taking a moment to appreciate the level of craftsmanship in the door for it to work that well after two hundred years. Molly retrieved the Chip before hefting the corpse up and drug him in after her.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly finally got to the terminal that she needed to use to update the Securitrons in storage- after fighting her way through a bunch of Protectrons and Securitrons, the three legged variety, not the mono wheeled kind that House used.

The constant radiation was a nice touch, too.

That was the extent of the troubles she experienced while at the Fort. Exiting, thankfully, was much easier for her. The door guards absence had gone unnoticed and she was able to slip out the door and back to the gap in the fence.

Getting back to where Boone had set up his snipers nest was a bit more challenging though, but that was because she had to swim across Lake Meade. When she reached the nest, Molly found Boone still in his shooting position and Sara curled up next to him, using Molly's pack as a pillow, out cold.

"Hey." Molly said in a low voice as she plopped down next down Boone.

"Hey." Boone said. "You do it?"

"Yeah." Molly answered and shivered in the cold desert air. "Shoulda built a fire."

Boone grunted in acknowledgment and shifted his aim.

"You gonna shoot?" Molly asked.

Boone said nothing for a few seconds, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at Sara.

"No." he said, lowering the rifle and rolling away from it onto his back. "It's too dark to get a clean shot."

Molly looked up at the sky, where there was a sliver of moon peeking out from behind a cloud.

"Yeah." she agreed. "There'll be more people out when the suns up anyways." she added, then reached over to where her bedroll was. "Need a blanket. It's freezing out."

Oo000oo000oO

End.


	10. Chapter 10

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_They came to us!_

_To defeat, kill, and make us rot away, or to be defeated, killed, and rot away themselves!_

_That is all! That is everything!_

Alucard, Hellsing, by Kohta Hirano.

Oo000oo000oO

Sara got a wake up call about fifteen minutes after sunrise the next morning when Boone sniped an inattentive Legionnaire with his anti material rifle.

"GYAAAAH!" she shrieked, flailing around. "What the hell?"

"Boone just body shot a Legionary." Molly told her as she panned her binoculars. "And good morning."

"What. The. Hell." Sara repeated, emphasizing each word as she sat up. "Are you out of your fucking _minds_?"

"According to some, yeah." Molly responded. "There's coffee and breakfast if you want it."

There was another concussive muzzle blast as Boone fired again. Sara shook her head and headed to the campfire. Breakfast turned out to be roasted Cram and pouring herself a cup of coffee, she took the last three chunks and scarfed them down.

Chugging the coffee, she grabbed her rifle and lay down next to Molly as Boone fired for a third time.

"Why are you guys shooting at the Legion?" Sara asked, squinting as she peered out over the sandbags. There were tiny black motes running around in The Fort, helpless and unable to return fire. "Didn't your mission go right?"

"Why not?" Molly asked. "And yeah, my mission did go right. We're doing this just to demoralize them."

"This seems like-" Sara started to say as Boone fired again. "As I was saying, this seems like you're kicking a Cazadore nest."

"We're almost a mile away." Molly answered. "Just what the fuck do you think that they can do about it?"

Sara winced as Boone fired again. "You think that you can hit anything from here?" she asked.

"Here." Molly said, handing Sara the binoculars.

Taking the binoculars, Sara trained them on the camp. The black motes resolved into vaguely humanoid shapes running around. As she looked over the camp, she saw three of them lying on the ground, not moving.

"Fuck." Sara swore and handed the binoculars back to Molly. "You actually _can_ hit someone that far away."

"Uh huh." Molly said as she took the binoculars. ".50BMG. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to reach out and touch someone with it."

Sara looked over at where Boone was clicking fresh rounds into the rifle's magazine. "No spare mags?" she asked.

"Nope." Boone answered. "Didn't have any in stock."

"So how long are wee going to do this?" asked Sara. "This shooting at the Legion thing."

"Until we're outta ammo." Molly answered. "Which'll be in about fifteen rounds or so."

"Yay."

Oo000oo000oO

Sara missed it when Molly froze near the top of a hill and held up a fist. Boone saw her however, and grabbed Sara by the shoulder.

"Hold it." Boone said in a low voice.

"What the-" Sara started to say but Molly shushed her.

"Company." Molly told her. "Legion."

"I told you that it was a bad idea." Sara hissed at Molly as she went prone.

"It's a patrol." Molly whispered back at Sara. "Veteran and a bunch of rookies."

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Sara asked as Molly set her rifle up.

"If they were hunting us they would've sent veterans." Boone told her in a low voice.

"If you two are done chatting, could you do me a favor and get your butts up here and back me up?" Molly told the two of them.

Sara unslung her rifle and Boone did the same. Crawling up to the top of the hill, Sara lay down on Molly's left and Boone to her right.

"Okay, Sara, here's what we're gonna do." Molly said as Sara got her rifle up. "I'm the primary shooter. Boone's the secondary." she explained. "You are gonna watch, and if things go wrong, you open up on them. Got that?"

Sara nodded once, and then Molly looked over at Boone, who was tightening down his newly acquired suppressor on his rifle.

"You ready?" she asked.

"I am now." Boone said as he shouldered his rifle.

"Okay." Molly said and took aim at the patrol. "On three. One, two, three."

Over the sights of her rifle Sara heard the muffled slap of Molly's rifle and watched as the rearmost Legionnaire crumpled to the ground. He hadn't even hit the ground when Molly fired again and the man in front crumpled. The third one in line was just starting to react when Sara heard a muffled, metallic, _click_ and Molly swore under her breath.

The sound of Boone's shot mixed with the sounds of Molly racking the bolt on her rifle and ejected the dud round. The third man crumpled to the ground as Molly kept her hand on the charging handle and rode the bolt forward as Boone worked his rifle bolt.

Sara tightened the grip on her rifle as Boone and Molly fired almost simultaneously, dropping the fourth man and the veteran leading them.

"Okay, were clear." Molly said, startling Sara who hadn't realized that she'd tensed up.

"That's it?" Sara asked, lifting her head from the stock. "That's all?"

"Yep." Molly answered, lowering her rifle and looking down at the patrol. "That's it to a classical sniper ambush."

Sara's jaw dropped. "Fucking hell." she said.

"Yeah." Molly said as she started to stand up. "We're that good."

"Shit."

Oo000oo000oO

Opening one of the dead Legionaries packs, Sara reached in and was rewarded with a fresh apple.

"Score." Sara said, looking at the fruit before taking a bite.

Munching on the apple, she dug out the rest of the contents of the guys pack, which were a twenty round box of twenty gauge shells of mixed type- slug, buck, and No 7 birdshot, another apple, a pear, a cloth bundle containing a loaf of bread, dried meat, and some honey drops.

There was some healing powder and bitter drink, a small leather journal that she kept for went and did number two, and a handful of denarius. Stuffing the contents back into the pack with the exception of the apple, which she started eating after finishing the first one.

Slinging the pack onto her back, Sara grabbed the mans shotgun and stood up as her companions finished looting the rest of the patrol.

"Hey, kid." Molly said.

"What d'ya want, fatass?" Sara asked around a mouthful of apple.

"First, don't talk with your mouth full." Molly said and held out her hand. "Second, here's your share." she added, handing Sara some Legion coinage.

Sara stared down at the silver and lone gold coin in her palm in confusion. "But I didn't do anything." she said, confused.

"You were our back up." Molly explained. "That was your job, and you did it. You earned those."

"Oh. Okay." Sara said, her tone saying that she was confused as to why anyone would want to do that for her.

Molly gave her a long look, decided that she'd talk about it later and shrugged. "Lets go." she said. "It's a long walk back to Vegas."

Oo000oo000oO

They were walking along the cracked and crumbling blacktop, and as they walked along, Molly noticed that her two companions began to act odd, always glancing to their right, up at the ridge. It took her a bit to figure out why they were acting that way. It was when they neared the Bitter Springs Recreational Area that it clicked for her.

"_Oh, crap." _Molly thought. _"I just lead them right next to Bitter Springs."_

Molly saw Boone look up at the ridge looming above them and frown, Sara saw him looking and cleared her throat.

"Don't feel guilty on my account." she told him.

"Why?"Boone asked her.

"My parents died a week before it happened." she explained. "They were part of a raid on a Gun Runners caravan."

"You weren't-" Boone started to ask. "here?"

"Oh, I was." Sara told him. "It's just my parents were already dead by then."

"So how did you survive?" Boone asked her.

"I had gotten raped the day before." Sara explained, her face stony. "I was hiding in a supply cave."

Molly and Boone both started at how... casual she was in stating in how she survived.

"It was the first time for me." Sara added, she hugged herself for a moment. "Anyways, we're gonna want to get off the road when we get near Coyote Tail Ridge. There's deathclaws over there and we're gonna want to go north."

"Ah, Sara," Molly began.

"I'm fine." Sara said somewhat forcefully. "Let's worry about the deathclaws."

Molly sighed and glanced at Boone. He shrugged and they kept on walking.

Oo000oo000oO

Sara was right about the deathclaws, as there was what looked like a dozen of them milling around an abandoned train yard abutting a rock quarry. They had to scramble up some rocky cliff sides and hillsides, but managed to keep clear of them and eventually were able to get back on the road just outside of Vegas.

They followed the road into the ruins of Vegas, all the way to the Crimson Caravan's compound.

"Okay." Molly said, bringing their little group to a halt. "I got some stuff I need to take care of at the Crimson Caravan." she said. "But first, follow me."

Molly then made a detour, heading to the Followers of the Apocalypse clinic that was nearby.

"What're we doing going to these guys?" Sara asked.

"I want those bruises you got looked at." Molly told her. "And get a checkup while we're at it.

"_Why?"_ Sara asked.

"Basic human decency, for one." Molly said. "Second, you're too damn skinny. I felt your ribs, Sara. I want you looked at. If you're gonna run with me, that means I'm responsible for you."

"Who the hell put you in charge of me?" Sara demanded.

"I did." Molly told her. "You like eating, right?"

Sara was silent for several fuming seconds before she spoke. "I hate you." she said.

"But you love my food." Molly quipped as they entered the clinic.

The door had a strip of bells hanging on it that rang as she opened it, and inside the clinic there was an Asian woman who looked up from a book she was reading when they came in.

"Oh, hello there." she said, putting her book down. "May I help you?"

"Yeah." Molly said. "My friend here needs here her bruises looked at, and a checkup."

"Okay." the woman said, getting off of her stool. "I'm Doctor Usanagi. Whats your name?" she asked Sara.

"Sara." she replied.

"Have you been with us before?" Usanagi asked, her voice pleasant but professional.

Sara nodded once. "Yeah, after Bitter Springs." she said.

"Alright, you'll be in our databases then." Usanagi said. "Follow me please."

Molly watched as Sara followed the doctor into the back, then turned to Boone. "You mind waiting here for her?" she asked. "I'll give you the caps for the bill."

"Sure." Boone said, and headed for the chairs lining the one wall.

Oo000oo000oO

When she got back to the clinic Usanagi wasn't done with her checkup of Sara, so Molly dropped her pack to the floor and waited next to Boone while he sat reading his book.

"What are you reading?" Molly asked.

"Don Quixote." Boone answered.

Molly arched an eyebrow at him. "You like tilting at windmills?" she asked.

"No." Boone answered.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Molly looked up and saw Usanagi standing in the doorway to the back.

"Yeah?" Molly asked.

"May I talk to you for a moment?" Usanagi asked. "In private."

"Sure." Molly said and got to her feet.

Usanagi pulled Molly into what looked like their surgery and closed the door.

"Okay, what is it?" Molly asked.

"How much do you know about your friend?" Usanagi asked.

"She's had it rough, I know that." Molly said. "She's pretty tight lipped about her past, for the most part."

Usanagi nodded and clasped her hands in front of her. "Sara is in good health, _but_ she's underfed. The bruises on her face are non threatening, and she told me that been making sure that she's fed, so if that keeps up, she'll be fine." she said. "Her implant is in good condition, so she doesn't have to worry about that."

"Implant?" Molly asked. Words like _implant_ made her skittish.

"That's part of the reason why I called you back here." Usanagi said. "We, of the Followers, have a policy of offering contraceptive implants to women and girls who are at risk of being sexually assaulted, to greatly reduce their chances of getting pregnant."

"I see." Molly said quietly. "She... mentioned that she'd been... assaulted right before Bitter Springs."

"That's why we gave her the implant." Usanagi said. "That's also why I called you back here.

During my checkup, I saw that she had been physically assaulted multiple times, in my conversation with her, she said that she had been sexually assaulted multiple times, and I'm fairly certain that she's been the victim of psychological abuse as well.

Furthermore, she's been prostituting herself just to make sure that she can get something to eat, she's been doing occasional chem abuse, and she is illiterate."

"Fuck." Molly said. She knew the girl had it bad, but not like this...

"You seemed to have taken her under your wing." Usanagi said. "As such, I'm begging you: _Keep her away from the Khans_. If she goes back to them, I don't think she'll live to see eighteen."

"Don't worry." Molly said. "I'll look after her."

"Good." Usanagi said. "I can write you up a list, and you obtain some educational materials for her."

"Thanks." Molly said, and Usanagi opened the door.

"_Sara, you and I are gonna have a talk later on..."_Molly thought grimly.

Oo000oo000oO

When they left the clinic the sun had already gone down.

"Well guys, I think we should head back to the 38, don't you think" Molly asked.

"The 38?" Sara asked.

"The lucky 38." Molly clarified. "It's the casino Boone and I are staying at. You can see it right there." she added pointing to she distinctive spire of the Lucky 38 rising above Vegas.

"It's on the Strip?" Sara asked, a note of worry creeping into her voice.

"That a problem?" Molly asked.

"The guy who runs the Tops is on the Strip." Sara said. "He's... "

"He's dead." Molly told her. "I killed him."

"Good." Sara said.

Oo000oo000oO

When they entered the 38, Sara shivered as the air conditioning hit her. "Why's it cold in here?" she asked.

"It's the air conditioning." Molly told her.

"What?" Sara asked.

"Air conditioning." Molly repeated. "The air is cooled and dehumidified. It's pre war tech."

"They had to have their air cooled down?" Sara asked. "Man, they were a bunch of pussies."

"Don't tell Mr House that." Molly told her.

"House- waitaminute, _that_ Mr House?" Sara asked. "The guy who runs New Vegas?"

"Who do think _owns_ this casino?" Molly asked. "Don't you know who owns the 38?"

"No." Sara answered. "The who's who of the Strip really ain't my concern."

"I'll tell you about it in a bit." Molly said. "In the meantime, I gotta go talk to House." she added, heading for the elevator.

Oo000oo000oO

When she got up to the penthouse, Molly found the picture of House staring out from the giant monitor and the Securitrons in their usual places.

"Hey, I'm back." Molly announced.

"I can see that." House said. "I assume that it's safe to say that you've managed to upgrade the Securitrons at the Fort?" he asked.

"Yeah." Molly said. "I got in there, upgraded them, and got out." she said. "But you forgot to mention a few things. Like the Protectrons that were running around down there waiting to fry me."

"Yes." House said. "Unfortunately, I did not have a strong enough connection to be able to contact the mainframe at the bunker, so I was not able to deactivate them."

"There were terminals there that I could have deactivated them from." Molly shot back. "Or did you forget about those?"

"I'm over two hundred years old, Molly." House countered. "You tend to forget details after a while."

"Details are the color of the terminal's casing, House." Molly said. "To someone doing the bleeding, this is critical, _need _to_ know_ information. This happens again, we're gonna have a problem."

"I'll make sure that you're better informed next time." House told her.

"_Man, you are a _condescending_ asshole, you know that, House?"_ Molly thought. "Thank you." she said. "Now that's taken care of, you got another job for us?" she asked.

"I need you to talk to the Boomers." House told her. "I need them for my plans."

"The Boomers- those crazy assed tribals with the artillery?" Molly asked.

"Yes, those tribals." House said. "Rest assured, I know of the danger and I will compensate you and your companions handsomely for your efforts."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Molly shot back. "I'm more worried about getting blown up."

"If you can sneak into and out of the fort undetected, I think you can handle the Boomers." House said dismissively.

Sighing, Molly pinched her nose. "Is this time critical? I got some stuff to take care of."

"I would like it done as soon as possible, but, yes, there is some leeway here." House said.

"Thanks." Molly said. "And before we go, I want _everything_ that you have on them." she added. "If I'm risking getting blown to kingdom come, I want every advantage I can get."

"That is not an unreasonable request." House observed. "See you soon."

Oo000oo000oO

When she got back down to the Presidential Suite, Molly found Sara poking her way through the various strange (to her) things in the suite.

"Hey." Molly said, watching as Sara played with the shower in the bathroom.

"Hey, fatass." Sara answered, running her fingers through the shower heads stream.

"You know how to use that?" Molly asked.

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she realized that she _didn't_ actually know how to use a shower.

"No." she answered truthfully.

"Oh." Molly said." Well, you can use the knobs there to adjust the pressure and temperature, and when you have it right, you step into the tub and scrub the layer of topsoil off."

"Huh." Sara said, looking at the stream. "Beats the hell out of using a bucket." she said.

"That it does." Molly replied. "You get that the way you want it. I'll get you some towels and some soap."

"Thanks." Sara said, completely engrossed with the shower head.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors note: And now we get to see a little bit more of Sara's background.

For those who I'm going overboard with what had happened to her, look up Sargent Bitter-Root's dialog about the Khans. The Great Khans are a bunch of better organized, chem dealing, Raiders. An orphan like Sara would not have a good time of it in the Khans.

Also, while what happened at Bitter Springs is terrible, they did provoke that attack by the NCR by harassing their civilians and trade. You do stuff like that, don't be surprised if you have a company of pissed off trooper kicking down your door.


	11. Chapter 12

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_A chasm _  
><em>Pocketed with strife <em>  
><em>As those roads were, <em>  
><em>Traveled by a simple man<em>  
><em>And his shade guide<em>

_Will you be my Dante?_ by Jessica Thompson

Oo000oo000oO

"Okay, here we go." Molly said as she came into the dining area with an armload of papers.

"What's all that shit?" Sara asked, looking at the bundle of papers.

"Maps, Securitron reports, etc." Molly answered as she plopped the whole mess down onto the table. "Everything we need to figure out how to get to the Boomers without _them_ blowing _us_ up."

"You're kidding, right?" Sara asked incredulously . "You want to go talk to those psychos?"

"No, Mr _House_ wants to talk to them, through us." Molly told her.

"Why?" Sara asked.

"Because they're a group of heavily armed, xenophobic, tribals, who happen to have field guns that can reach from Nellis AFB to here, or to the dam, or McCarren, or Fortress Hill without any trouble." Molly explained. "When things get hot, you'd want them on your side, or at least against the Legion."

"That makes sense." Sara said as she grabbed a bottle on the table. "But why do I have to put my ass on the line for him?"

"Because he's paying three thousand caps a job, plus everything we can scavenge." Molly said as Sara took a swig on her bottle.

Sputtering, Sara choked on her wine. "Three thousand caps?" she gasped.

Molly nodded and grabbed a rolled up sheet of paper. "Uh huh." she said "And if you help us, three way split. That's a thousand caps."

Sara thought for several long moments before she spoke. "Well, they don't shoot at you at night." she said. "If you're quiet, you can get right up to the fence that surrounds the place if you stay away from the gates."

"They don't run patrols?" Molly asked.

Sara shook her head. "Not at night." she said. "Day time, you get within a mile of the place, they're all over you." she added, making a gun shape with her hand. "Bang."

"Fortunately, I'm good at the sneaky sneaky." Molly said as she unrolled the map.

"Tell me about it." Sara said. "If it hadn't been for those Radscorpions, there was no way in hell that Scoot could have tracked you."

"Scoot?" Molly asked.

"He was the tracker that Jessup had along with us." Sara explained. "Dumbass was half blind and strung out on Jet all the time."

"So why weren't you the tracker?" Boone asked. "You have a good grasp of field craft."

A dark look flickered over Sara's face, much like Boone's when Molly had first met him, she was quick to note.

"I was the entertainment." she said, and then looked up at Molly. " Thanks again for whacking that motherfucker. He liked to hit."

"He was a lousy shot too." Molly said, fingertips brushing the bandage on the side of her head. "And you're welcome. Moving on, this is a topographical map of Nellis. What we need to do is figure out the best way to sneak in."

They all leaned in and looked at the map. "This is one fucked up map." Sara said as she scratched the side of her head. "What're all the lines for?"

"They show elevation." Molly told her. "In this case, every line represents ten feet of elevation."

"Oh." Sara said, and took a swig on her bottle. "If we were there, I could show you some of the ways in there. We keep a stash of stuff right next to the fence."

"Why?" Boone asked.

"Safest place to put it." Sara explained. "They never leave the place, and no one goes near it."

"Clever." Molly said, and turned back to the map. "Anyways, we're luck because it's a new moon for the next couple of days, so it'll be pitch black at night, and since according to Sara they don't shoot at night, that means they don't have any low light gear and they don't run patrols."

"Stupid." Boone said. "You could send a company in at night and take the whole place."

Molly nodded and continued speaking. "Exactly." she said. "And we're going to use that to our advantage. I was thinking that we approach the area during the day, wait till nightfall and then find a place we can hole up in and we can spend the next day scoping it out, so when the next night comes around, I can go and sneak in."

"Works for me." Sara said.

"We could use this ridge here." Boone suggested, running his finger along a large series of whorls.

"That might work..." Molly said, leaning over the map.

Oo000oo000oO

Hours later, after they had long since hammered out a plan, Molly had gone to take a shower and Boone was reclining in the entertainment lounge, firmly ensconced in a book.

"Hey."

Boone looked up and saw Sara standing in front of him, a bottle firmly grasped in one hand. He could tell by the expression on her face and the way she weaved ever so slightly that she was drunk.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why'd you stand between me and those old bitches?" Sara demanded, her words slurred slightly.

Boone marked his place and set his book down. "You're drunk." he said. "You should go and sleep it off."

"Answer the fucking question!" Sara snapped.

"Why is it such a problem?" Boone asked.

"You're First Recon." Sara said. "You butchered us at Bitter Springs. Why protect me?"

Boone closed his eyes for a moment. "Because it was the right thing to do." he answered.

Sara narrowed her eyes at him. "So you did it 'cause you're guilty." she said.

Boone looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah." he said. "The Wasteland is getting it's revenge on me one day at a time."

Sara blinked and stared at him in shock. "What?" she asked.

"Bitter Springs, Carla." Boone said. "The Wasteland is making sure I pay for what I did."

Sara looked at him for several long moments, then took a swig from her bottle. "You're as fucked up as I am, you know that?" she told him.

Boone thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah." he said.

Sara stood there for a minute, swaying back and forth slightly, then went and sat down on the couch next to Boone.

"What're you doing?" Boone asked her.

"Keeping you company." Sara answered. "Fuckups like us need to stick together."

Oo000oo000oO

That morning Molly found Sara curled up on the couch, covered by a blanket.

"Huh." Molly said, sipping on her coffee. "Whats up with this?" she mused, looking at the empty wine bottle lying on the floor next to the table.

"She got into a bottle last night." Boone said as he walked up with a cup of his own.

"Obviously." Molly said. "Well, she's slept enough." she added, and walked over to the couch. "Wake up, Sleepyhead!"

Molly gave the couch a good kick and the results were immediate and dramatic. Sara woke up instantly and came up swinging.

"YAAAAAAaah-huh?" was Sara's response. "Where there hell- oh, yeah." she said, and then grimaced as the hangover hit. "Owwww..."

"Morning." Molly said. "There's coffee and breakfast if you want it." she added.

"Okay." Sara said, grimacing at the loudness of Molly's voice. "We got anything for a headache?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Molly thought for a second. "I'll go check." she said, and stepped out.

Sara rubbed her temples and looked at Boone. "Thanks for the blanket." she said.

"You're welcome." Boone answered her.

"When did I pass out?" asked Sara as kicked the empty bottle with her foot.

"About an hour after you came in." Boone told her.

"Oh."

Oo000oo000oO

Molly came in ten minutes later with a condensation coated glass filled to the brim with an unidentified substance.

"What the hell is that?" Sara asked, giving the glass a suspicious look.

"Chocolate milkshake." Molly answered and handed Sara the glass.

"What?" Sara asked, looking at the glass.

"It's a chocolate milkshake." Molly repeated. "Trust me, it works."

Sara gave the glass a third look and shrugged. "Not the worst thing that I've put in mouth." she said and took a tentative sip. "Hey, this is pretty good." she said, and downed the whole thing.

Molly smiled as Sara wiped her mouth off with her arm. "Behold, the recuperative power of chocolate." she said. "Give you about half an hour, get some food in ya, and you should be ready to hit the trail."

"I'm good to go right now." Sara said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Get some breakfast first." Molly said. "You're too skinny."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever fatass." Sara said as she headed for the kitchen.

Oo000oo000oO

Hours later they were nearing the main road leading to Nellis AFB when Molly stopped and cocked her head.

"You guys hear that?" she asked.

"No." Boone answered.

"Hear what?" Sara asked.

"That." Molly said.

"What are – oh." Sara said as she cocked her head to one side. "What is that?"

"molly molly molly molly MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY!"

Molly's face brightened as the sound of a _very_ familiar voice chanting her name at the top of her lungs faded up.

"Oh, it's just-" was all that she was able to say before a purple haired missile tackled her and bowled her over.

"MOLLY!" Ami squealed as she engulfed her friend in a bear hug.

"Ami..." Molly croaked as the breath was squeezed out of her.

"Who the fuck is this?" Sara asked as she looked down at the purple haired girl.

"A friend of mine." Molly wheezed in reply. "Ami, I need to breathe..."

"Oh!" Ami said and let go of her. "Sorry Molly."

"It's okay." Molly said. "I see you're back already."

"Yeah." Ami said. "It was a quick run." she added. "So, what are you up to?"

"Going to go talk to the Boomers." Molly answered as she and Ami stood up.

Ami's eyes bugged out when Molly stated their objective. "WHAAAAT?" she yelped. "Are you crazy?"

Molly shrugged. "For this, probably." she said.

"You'll get blown up!" Ami wailed, waving her arms around.

"No I won't." Molly countered. "I'm gonna sneak in at night."

"Oh." Ami said, her worries about Molly's safety instantly evaporating. "Okay then."

"Hey." Sara said, interrupting their conversation. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Oh." Molly said, turning to Sara. "Sara, this Damian Bjornson. Call her Ami. Ami, this is the newest member of out group, Sara."

Ami looked at Sara like she had just noticed her, and she gasped as her eyes went wide. "EEEE!" she squealed. "A cute little Khan girl!"

Fire flared in Sara's eyes as Ami showered her with adoring looks. "Hey, look-" she started to say right before Ami glomped her.

"SHE'S SO CUTE!" Ami squealed.

"AAAAAACK!" Sara said as Ami squeezed the breath out of her. "LET GO OF ME YOU CRAZY PURPLE HAIRED BITCH!"

"She's so cute and spunky!" Ami added as she kept hugging. "Where did you find her?" she asked.

"I'M NOT A PET YOU STUPID CUNT!" Sara croaked. "LET GO OF ME!"

"She found us." Molly answered. "You mind not squeezing her too tight? I think you're gonna crack one of her ribs."

"LET GO OF ME YOU-" Sara started to say, but stopped when Ami gave her a piercing look.

"A pretty girl like you shouldn't use language like that." she said.

Sara gave Ami an exasperated look. "That the hell are you on?" she asked "And can I have some?"

"I'm not on anything." Ami answered. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she asked.

"Because you act like you've been popping Mentats." Sara responded. "Now, you gotta let go of me or it's gonna cost you five hundred caps."

"_**AMI!**_" Molly hissed as Ami's face brightened. "Don't you dare! She's sixteen!"

Ami's face fell and she let go of Sara. "Oh." she said. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes."

"Gee, ya think?" Sara asked and felt her ribs. "Cripes, I think you almost cracked one of 'em."

"I'm kinda strong." Ami said and then turned to Molly. "So! You need any help?"

Molly shrugged. "Well, we're gonna be scouting out the place for the day, then I was gonna sneak in alone." she explained. "It'll be kind of boring."

"Can I snuggle up next to you?" Ami asked.

"Sure." Molly said.

"You're gay?" Sara asked Ami.

"Bisexual." Ami chirped.

"You mean when I said that what the rate was..." Sara asked.

Ami nodded and smiled. "Uh huh." she said.

Sara thought for a second. "You're not rough are you?" she asked. "Cause the last guy-"

"Sara!" Molly said.

"Hey, it's a habit okay?" Sara snapped back.

"Well it's time you broke it." Molly said as Sara stuck her tongue out at her.

"Anyways." Boone said, taking control of the conversation. "We're wasting daylight here. Can we get going?"

"Sure." Molly said. "Ami, I'll fill you in on the way."

"Can't believe I partnered up with a lezzie." Sara muttered.

"Oh, I'm bi too." Molly said as they started walking.

"Fuck." was all Sara could say.

"Oh, we do that too." Molly added, giving Ami's butt a squeeze.

"Eek!"

Oo000oo000oO

"Un-fucking-believable." Molly said as she panned her binoculars across the broad expanse of Nellis AFB.

"What?" Sara asked, holed up in the tarp that they had spread over one end a crevice in the ridge that they were observing from.

"They aren't running patrols." Molly explained.

"You mentioned that." Sara said. "Last night, when we planned this little suicide run out."

"Yeah, but I was referring at _night_. This is during the day. I could sneak in right now if I wanted to." Molly elaborated. "How the hell has anyone not snuck in here anyways?"

"They have heavy artillery." was Boone's response.

"And the wasteland is full of idiots." Sara added.

"Obviously." Molly muttered and lowered her binoculars. "I'm half tempted to just say fuck it and let these idiots get overrun, but I cant."

"I can." Sara said.

"That's because you're a Khan." Molly told her. "I just don't want the Legion getting their hands on those field pieces." she added "What do you think, Ami?"

"Man, that tower's got to have an _awesome_ view." was Ami's response.

"That's another thing: Why is there no one up in that tower? They'd have the perfect observation point there, and they'd be untouchable." Molly added. "Seriously, what is wrong with these people?"

"Like I said fatass, Wasteland. Idiots. Lots of." Sara said snarkily, reiterating her previous statement.

Molly grunted in reply and looked at the time on her Pip-Boy. "Okay, it's four in the afternoon." she said, looking over at Boone. "I'm gonna get some sleep. You okay with standing watch?" she asked.

"Sure." was Boone's response.

"I'll join you." Sara said, getting up from where she was sitting.

Molly gave Sara a surprised look as she and Ami slid down the embankment into the crevice. "I thought you hated him." she said.

"I changed my mind." Sara said defensively.

"Obviously." Molly said.

Sara stuck out her tongue at Molly and climbed up next to Boone, wriggling into a shady spot between him and a bush. Meanwhile, Molly laid down underneath the tarp, using Ami's lap as a pillow while Ami busied herself playing with Molly's hair.

"Us fuckups gotta stick together, huh?" Boone asked Sara in a low voice.

"Yeah."

Oo000oo000oO

Raquel felt a breeze kick up and rubbed her eyes. She was at her usual post at the main gate of Nellis AFB and in a couple of hours she'd get to turn in-

"Hi there." a low feminine voice said.

She froze when she felt the knife at her throat and a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Okay." the voice continued. "If I was here to kill you, you would already be dead. Got it?"

Raquel gave the most imperceptible of nods.

"Good." the voice said. "Do you know of Mr house, the man who runs New Vegas?" it asked.

Again Raquel gave another nod. "Excellent. He's sent me here to talk to you guys about enlisting your aid for the battle of the Dam." the voice continued. "Normally, I wouldn't be doing it this way, but you guys have a real bad habit of shelling people you don't know.

Now. I want you to take me to your leader. I want you to just walk right down from this platform. I will be right behind you. _Don't_ try to signal your men over there by the gate. I have a suppressed pistol in addition to this knife. Try anything and you will be dead before you hit the ground and I will be long gone before they realize I'm here, okay?"

Raquel nodded again.

"Good." the voice said, and the blade and the hand vanished. "Start walking."

Swallowing her fear, Raquel did as she was told and started walking down the ramp. Turning right, she headed across the tarmac for Pearl's residence, her mysterious visitor not making any noise at all.

Hoping she had been imagining the whole thing, she started to turn her head.

"Eyes front, please." the voice said. "You'll get a look at me when we get to whoever is in charge here."

"Pearl." Raquel said. "It's Pearl who's in charge."

"Oh." the visitor said. "Okay, when we get to Pearl."

Raquel swallowed nervously and kept on walking.

Shortly, they reached Pearls barracks, set right next to one of the massive, rusting hangers.

"Go right up to the door and knock." the voice said.

Scared as all get out, Raquel did as she was told and knocked.

"Come in." Pearl's voice called from inside.

Fear gnawing at her stomach, Raquel turned the doorknob and stepped in.

"Raquel!" Pearl said as she stepped inside. "What can I do for..." she trailed off, her gaze focused on something behind Raquel's left shoulder. She turned to see a woman standing behind her clad head to toe in black, a blackened face, a pistol belt with a N99 10mm in the holster, and a _very _cheeky grin on her face.

"Hi there." the woman said. "My name's Molly, and Mr House sent me to talk to you."

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Author's note: Damn, but Molly knows how to make an entrance, doesn't she?


	12. Chapter 13

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_Gold for the Mistress, Silver for the Maid_

_Copper for the Craftsman, cunning at his trade_

_But iron, cold iron, said the Baron sitting in his hall,_

_is the master of them all._

Oo000oo000oO

Pearl looked at the stranger and arched her eyebrow at her.

"Does he now?" she asked. "Might I ask with what?"

Molly's smile got cheekier. "Artillery support." she said. "For when the balloon goes up at the Dam."

"You actually think that we're just going to lend our support to an outsider?" Pearl asked.

Molly laughed. "Nope." she said honestly. "But there's a way that I think can help convince you."

Pearl's expression said that this ought to be good. "And that is?" she asked.

"For starters, I can point out just how crappy your security is." Molly said.

Pearl crossed her arms and looked at Molly. "Our security works just fine." she said stiffly. "It's kept the Wasteland at bay ever since we arrived here-"

"Yeah." Molly said dryly. "You know that the Khan's have cache's along your perimeter?" she asked.

"What?" Pearl asked.

"You have the Great Khan's stashing shit along your perimeter." Molly repeated, elaborating on her previous statement. "If you ran patrols rather than just guarding the main gate you'd know that."

"I see." Pearl said. "You have any other nuggets of information to share?" she asked.

"Yeah." Molly said. "Run patrols outside your fence. Get spotters in that tower you got here, and on that elevated roadway. And run them at night. Two platoons of Rangers or a Legion raiding party could sneak in here at night and take this place over.

I mean, _I_ got in here. If I can, they can."

Pearl's eye's widened as she realized that Molly was right.

"Alright, stranger, you've made your point." she said. "However, you are going to need to convince the rest of us that you're trustworthy."

"_Of course."_ Molly thought. "And they are?" Molly asked.

"Well, Raquel for beginners." Pearl said, nodding at the woman now standing well out of arms reach. "And Loyal, and of course Pete at the Museum."

Molly thought for a second, then turned around to Raquel. "So." she said. "Looks like you get to go first." she said.

Raquel scowled at Molly. "You expect me to trust you, savage?" she asked. "_How_ do you expect me to trust you?"

Molly arched an eyebrow at the Boomer. "I didn't slit your throat for starters." she pointed out "Even though I could have at any time."

"That's not the most persuasive of arguments." Raquel countered.

"I also pointed out the holes in your security." Molly added.

"And God only knows the ones you omitted." Raquel said, crossing her arms. "You want my trust, you've got to _earn_ it."

Molly pursed her lips for a second, then sighed. "Okay." she said. "You win. What do you want me to do?"

Raquel cocked her hip to one side and stared Molly straight in the eye. "We got an ant problem." she said. "They've taken up residence in our generator building."

"That's it?" Molly asked. "Some giant ants?"

"We think that they've been eating some of our ammo stores." Raquel said. "We sent in a team to clear them out. One of them hit one with a flamethrower, and it went off like a bomb. Took almost the whole team out."

"Lovely." Molly said, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "So, you know what kind of weapons work on them?"

"Regular guns should work, as would melee weapons." Raquel informed her.

"Okay then." Molly said, then turned around to face Pearl. "You guys mind if I bring in my friends for this job? I'd rather not do this alone."

"Keep them on a short leash, outsider." was Pearl's response. "We're keeping an eye on you."

Molly smiled and gave her a slight bow. "They'll be angels." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

The sun had just fully cleared the horizon when Molly made it back to their hide.

"Hey." Boone said as she clambered down into the depression.

"Hey." Molly returned his greeting. "Anything happen while I was gone?" she asked.

"Not really." Boone said.

"Uh huh." Molly said, looking at where Sara was curled up under one of Boone's blankets.

Boone followed Molly's gaze and saw what she was looking at. "What?" he asked with a shrug. "It got kinda chilly last night, and she needed the warmth."

"Sure." was Molly's deadpan response. "Anyways. I talked to them, and for them to go along with it, we got to do some stuff for them."

"What kind of stuff?" Boone asked.

"Well, first off, there's a whole bunch of ants we gotta kill." Molly answered.

Boone lowered his rifle and scratched the side of his head. "That doesn't so bad." he said. "What's the catch?"

Molly dug out her canteen and unscrewed the lid. "They can explode if you hit them with fire or energy based weapons." she said before taking a drink.

"Of course." Boone said. "How are we going to do this?"

Molly finished her drink and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. "Very carefully." she said. "I was thinking just a couple of us could go in, rather than all four of us."

Boone nodded. "Less people in case things go wrong." he said. "Who do you want to go in with you?" he asked.

"Ami." Molly said as she offered the canteen to Boone. "There's some other stuff that Pearl- she's the leader of these lunatics- said needed to be done, and I figure you and Sara can take care of it."

"You don't want me to come?" Boone asked as he took the canteen from Molly.

"It's probably gonna be tight quarters, and well, she's smaller than you." Molly explained as Boone took a drink.

"That makes sense." Boone said, screwing the canteen's cap back on. "Any pointers on what the kid and I should do?"

Molly took the canteen back and stuck it into it's pouch. "There's this guy named Loyal that Pearl mentioned." she said. "I'd start with him."

"Okay." Boone said, and picked up his rifle. "You want to wake Sara and your friend up?"

"Sure." Molly said, and slid down into the depression.

Walking over to the tarp, Molly crouched down in front of Ami's blanket, distinctive with its being made out of old Pre-War Hawaiian shirts.

"Hey, Purple Head, wake up." Molly said, giving the lump under the blanket a poke in the rump.

The lump under the blanket twitched, mumbled something about pickles, then the upper part was flipped back and Ami with a massive case of bed head squinted out at her.

"Whazzup?" she asked.

"Time to get up." Molly explained. "We got some work to do."

"What kinda work?" Ami asked, rubbing an eye as she sat up.

"Giant ant's that can explode if you set them on fire or zap them." Molly explained. "Fortunately, bullets work just fine on them."

Ami woke up at the mention of explosive ants. "Explosive ants?" she asked.

Molly nodded. "Uh huh." she said. 'They've taken up residence in the Boomers generator building."

"So why are they explosive?" Ami asked as she started to stretch.

"The Boomers keep their artillery shells in there too." Molly said with a shrug. "Apparently the ant's have been eating them."

Ami blinked a couple of times and scratched the back of her head. "So what are Boone and Sara going to be doing?" she asked.

"They're going to be doing errands for some of the other Boomers." Molly told her.

"Oh." Ami said. "I guess we had better wake her up then." she said, and reached over to where Sara was sleeping.

"No, don't!" Molly said and reached for the purple haired girl, but it was too late.

When Ami shook the sleeping Khan, the result was immediate. Sara yelped and came up swinging, the piece of pipe in her hand heading straight for Ami's head. Ami's reaction was just as immediate: she ducked just in time, the pipe passing just over her head.

Ami rolled backwards as Sara swung again, overhand this time. The pipe thumped on the ground and then Sara paused, looked around, and realized what had happed.

"Who the fuck did that?" she asked.

Ami raised her hand. "I did!" she said.

Sara scowled at the purple haired girl. "Don't fucking do that." she said. "I thought you were gonna rape me."

Ami got a shocked expression on her face when Sara said that. "I would never rape _anyone."_ she protested. "I always make sure it's consensual before I have my way with someone. Besides, why would I do something that horrible to a girl with as awesome tits as yours?" she asked, pointing to Sara's chest.

Sara looked down and remembered that she had taken off her vest before she had turned in and was indeed naked from the waist up.

"GAAAAAAAAH!" Sara screamed as she lunged at Ami.

Boone watched as the tarp collapsed down onto the three thrashing women and just shook his head.

Oo000oo000oO

Her eye was feeling better, that was a definite improvement in hr opinion. For the last few days, Sara had been almost blind in one eye from the swelling, which played hell with her depth perception and peripheral vision.

With the swelling going down, she could start to see things normally again. Like the fact that Boone was trying to not look at her as they trudged across the tarmac.

"What?" she asked.

"Huh?" Boone asked, caught off guard by her question.

"You've been acting twitchy ever since we broke camp." Sara told him. "What the hell's going on?"

"Nothing." Boone said defensively.

Sara wasn't buying it. "Bull-_shit_ there isn't. You're acting weird. What the hell is up?" she demanded.

Boone sighed and kicked a rock that was lying on the pavement. It skittered across the tarmac and into a depression where the earth had collapsed out from under the tarmac.

"I saw you without your vest on." he said. "When you climbed out from under the tarp."

Sara arched an eyebrow at him. "That's it?" she asked. "That's what's bothering you?"

"Yes." answered Boone.

"Why?" Sara asked. "Fatass told me about how you met her, and you don't seemed too worked up about it."

Boone scowled as they kept trudging along towards the massive hangers.

"Because you're a kid." Boone explained. "It's not right."

"I'm sixteen." retorted Sara. "I'm hardly a kid."

"No, you're not." Boone countered.

"Hey, according to you guy's law, I'm not." Sara counterattacked. "The Followers told me about that. You can join the army, get married, etc."

"Well, it's not right, for a guy my age to be looking at a girl your age..." Boone protested.

"And why the hell not?" Sara demanded. "I'm not some delicate little flower who needs to be protected, hell, I'm just as tough as you are, and a fine looking bitch to boot."

You could hear Boone's molars grind in frustration. "Look, I don't need the wasteland to punish me any more than it already is, okay?" he snapped, his temper getting the better of him.

"Whoa, hold on there sparky." Sara said, stopping and grabbing the man's bicep. "Let me tell you a few things, okay? First, the wasteland, hell, my own _tribe_ has been trying to kill me from day one. If the Wasteland had it out for you, you'd be dead, okay?

Second, Bitter Springs was a fucking massacre, okay? I know because I was _there_. But that doesn't make us Khan's innocent victims. We're raiders, killers, chem runners, and thieves. And for your information, _every_ Khan camp is a raider camp. If we'd had some warning that you were coming, those women and children would have been armed and waiting for you.

So blow that guilt trip out your ass, get over it, and start being that billy bad ass First Recon you're supposed to be!"

Boone took a step back, surprised by the sheer force of will in Sara's rant. "Have you considered becoming a Drill Sargent?" he asked. "Because I think you'd be a natural at it."

Sara scowled at the man. "Have you considered sucking off a Deathclaw?" she snapped.

Oo000oo000oO

Standing in front of the door that led to the generator rooms, Molly reached down to her holster, flipped the retainer off, and drew her pistol.

"Ami, here." she said, handing the purple haired girl the N99 butt first.

"But I have a pistol." Ami said, patting the massive hunting revolver that was hanging off of her belt.

"Yeah, but yours doesn't have a silencer." Molly pointed out, and offered the gun to her again. "Mine does, and I'd rather _keep_ my hearing, thank you very much."

"Oh." Ami said, now getting Molly's point and took the pistol. "But what will you do for a weapon?" she asked as Molly unsnapped the pistol's suppressor from its pouch on the edge of the holster.

"My rifle has a can, remember?" Molly asked. "You'll be backing me up."

"Oh, yeah, that's right." Ami said as she tucked the pistol into her waistband. "Sorry, I was thinking about your tits."

Molly snorted in amusement. "Ami, while my I do have an _amazing_ pair of tits, could you please keep your mind on the explosive insects?" she asked, handing the suppressor to her.

"I'll try." was Ami's response as she took the can and pulled the N99 from her waist band. "Though I'm going to need some extra magazines, though."

"Coming right up."" Molly said, and unsnapped a pouch on her belt and pulled out a pair of magazines. "Here." she said, handing them to Ami.

Ami took the mags, thought for a second on just where she was going to put them, and then opened up the front of her armor enough for her to stuff them into her cleavage.

"Tits, is there anything they _can't_ do?" Ami asked as Molly unslung her rifle and took it's suppressor out.

"That is a good question." Molly said as she undid the muzzle brake on her rifle and screwed the suppressor on in its place. "Here we go."

Wrapping the sling around her left fore arm, Molly got her rifle into position and nodded at Ami. She stepped around Molly and placed her hand on the doorknob. Glancing back at Molly, who gave a confirming nod, she cranked the knob over and pushed the door open before she stepped back out of the way.

As soon as Ami was out of the way, Molly went through the door and off to one side. Dropping into a crouch, she swept the room that was lit up from the light spilling in from the doorway.

She was in a roughly square room, with a doorway in front of her and one to her left, There was some machinery in the room, a corpse in a ragged Vault suit, and one big-assed ant standing over it.

It had started to turn towards her as she entered, and as it's head came into view, Molly canted her rifle to one side and aligned the iron sights on the ant's head, and pulled the trigger.

There was a muffled _pop_, and the ant's head exploded like a melon as the .308 boattail hit it dead center, the kinetic energy at almost point blank range causing the hydrostatic shock to rip it apart as the bullet ranged down the ants body before exiting out it's thorax and embedding itself in the floor.

"Clear." she said.

There was a shadow in the door as Ami moved through it and into the room.

"Watch that door on the left." Molly instructed her as she got to her feet.

Ami had the N99 up, and she approached the door very carefully, slicing the pie as she checked to make sure that there were no ants waiting on the other side.

"Door is clear." she said, dropping the N99 into a ready position, then spared a glance at the ant Molly had shot. ".308 is waaay too much for ant's." she said.

"I know." Molly said. ".223 would be better, but I don't have anything that caliber with a can, so I gotta make do."

Ami nodded as Molly went to look at the corpse, specifically the weapon lying next to it on the floor.

"They were room clearing with fucking _grenade launchers_." Molly said with a sigh, picking up the weapon. "These people are fucking nuts, you know that?"

"Yeah." Ami said, keeping her attention on the door. "But you were the one who agreed to do this, so what does that make you?"

"Good point." Molly said, checking to make sure the launcher was on safe before slinging it across her back. "Lets go."

Ami backed away from the door and fell into position behind Molly as they advanced into the next room.

Oo000oo000oO

There was only about a dozen ants in the facility, which Molly considered a blessing. Giant ant colonies could have up to several score in them, and in a confined setting like they were in it made it very easy to get swarmed.

However, as if to make up for the lack of ant's, Molly and Ami discovered that they had a much _bigger_ problem: The colony's queen was down on the lower level, wandering around.

"So what do we do?" Ami asked Molly in a whisper. "If the queen is explosive like the little ones, we use anything that'll set it off, it'll take down this whole place."

Molly nodded and gave the purple haired girl a smile. "Don't worry." she said, and reached for her rearmost magazine pouch. "I got a magic bullet for situation's like this."

Ami got a puzzled look on her face as Molly pulled a magazine out and held it so where she could see the cartridges loaded into it. It took her a moment to get it, but when she did, her face broke out into a massive grin.

The rounds loaded into the mag had black tips on them. Armor piercing rounds.

Handing the AP mag to Ami, Molly pulled the mag that was in the rifle and put it away. Then she took the mag from Ami and inserted it into the mag well. Pushing it carefully home to keep from making too much noise, she then flipped the rifle over onto it's side and slowly racked the bolt back.

Ami, thinking ahead, reached over and caught the round that was ejected from the rifle before it could clatter onto the walkway grating that they were standing on. She tucked the round into Molly's pack as she finished racking the bolt back and rode it back into battery, her hand on the bolt handle the whole time.

Motioning Ami back, Molly got down onto her belly and deciding to forgo using the bipod due to the angle, rested the rifle on her forearm. Tucking herself up to the stock, she looked through the sight and brought it to bear onto the massive ant below them.

Using her trigger hand, she reached up and tweaked the magnification back a couple of factors to bring it into focus, and then took aim.

With exquisite, loving, care, Molly drifted the crosshairs until they came to rest on the joint in the chitin where the back of the ant's head met it's neck, aiming for the uppermost part of the neck.

On pure instinct, accounting for the rifle's two hundred yard zero, she held slightly under her target, knowing that it would hit high at this range (around eighty feet, or just over twenty six yards), and took her shooting breath.

Like she would with a special lover, Molly exhaled ever so softly and her finger gently caressed the trigger. She was dimly aware when the sear broke, and she actually _heard_ the hammer hit the firing pin.

She never even heard the suppressed report of the rifle as it bucked, a spray of chitin and white ocher erupting from the joint in the queen's neck. The massive ant bucked and reared back, it's legs spasming wildly before crashing back down to the concrete floor dead as the proverbial doornail.

"Bullseye." Molly sighed, and ran her tongue along her upper lip.

"You treat that rifle the same way you do me." Ami observed.

Molly smirked and pushed herself up onto her knees, then reached out and drew Ami into a kiss on the lips. "Not quite." she said when they broke for air. "Now lets go, I want to make sure we didn't miss any before we go celebrate."

"Okay." Ami said after she shook her head to clear it of the fog of hormones.

Oo000oo000oO

Now it was Sara's turn to grind her molars in agitation as the old man named Loyal shook his head.

"No.' he said. "I'm sorry, outsiders, but before I give you this task you'll have to prove that you're trustworthy."

"I see." Boone said, doing his usual routine of imitating a heavily armed statue. "And how do we go about earning your trust?"

"Talk to my assistant, young Jack." Loyal told Boone. "There's something that's been troubling. Resolving that issue would go a long way in earning my trust."

Boone nodded and looked over at the only other person in the massive hanger besides him, the old man, and Sara.

"That's him over there?" he asked.

The old man nodded. "Yes." Loyal said. "Go talk to him, and see what you can do."

"I will." was Boone's response, and turned on his heel and started walking over to the young man sorting through a pile of parts.

Sara followed him, quietly seething. As they walked over to him, she decided that she didn't want to lose her temper and blow it, so she looked around for something else to focus on.

She looked at the Boomer ahead of them, but rejected him out of hand as being too skinny. The old man was definitely out, so that left Boone.

Who for some infuriating reason, was actually a fairly decent guy once you got past all the self pity and the being a First Recon and all. The fact that he was a slab of walking beefcake didn't help matters either.

"_Dammit, why the hell are the two people decided to give damn about me turn out to be gorramed NC fucking R?"_ Sara groused mentally as she dropped her gaze onto Boone's butt. _"And why the hell does he have to have such a sweet, sweet, ass?"_

"Are you Jack?" Boone asked as they came up to the man.

The man stopped what he was doing, straightened up, and turned face them. "Yeah." he answered. "You guys are those outsiders that Pearl let in."

Boone nodded. "You can call me Boone, she's Sara." he said, introducing them in his regular to the point style. "I understand that you have a problem that we might be able to help you with."

"Ah, yeah." Jack said. "Well, it's not so much a problem, as it's a person." he explained.

"Person?" Boone asked.

"Well, you see, there's this girl, she's a redhead, and she walks with th caravans that go by..." Jack elaborated.

Boone's brows tightened slightly. "Which caravans?" he asked.

"The ones called the Crimson Caravans, at least that's what it says on the sides of their carts." Jack told him. "Anyways, I keep seeing her, and, well, she's an angel, and-"

"Say no more." Boone said, holding up his hand. "I know what you mean. I take it you want to talk to her?" he asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah." he said. "I've got a letter for her, but since we don't leave Nellis, that's kind of out of the question."

"So, you want us to deliver the letter for you?" asked Boone.

Jack nodded. "Uh, yeah, that'd be great, if you don't mind." he said, digging a piece of folded paper out of his pocket.

"I was in love once myself." Boone said as Jack handed him the paper. "I'll see what we can do."

"Thank you." Jack said. "This means a lot to me."

"No problem." Boone said.

Oo000oo000oO

As they left the hanger, Boone tucked the letter into his pack and swung it back onto his shoulders.

"It's a long walk to where the Crimson Caravan is set up." Sara said, looking up at where the sun was in the sky. "And we don't have nearly enough daylight."

Boone looked up at where the sun was in the sky and agreed with Sara's assessment. "Yeah. If we head out at dawn tomorrow, we should make it by mid afternoon." he said. "Let's go see how Molly and her friend did."

"Okay." Sara said. "So, what happened?" she asked as they walked along.

"Pardon?" Boone asked.

"Back there you said that you'd been in love once. What happened?" Sara elaborated.

Boone was silent for a few moments before he answered. "My wife." he said. "She died."

"Oh." Sara said. "That sucks." she added, thinking of when her parents died.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors Note: This is the third story I've updated in the last two days. I'm on a friggin' roll here.


	13. Chapter 14

Echo's of Eras Past

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A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

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By Zombie Boy

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_Now, now, my good man. This is no time for making enemies."_

Voltaire.

Oo000oo000oO

Chapter Fourteen

Oo000oo000oO

Raquel stood on her viewing platform and swept her binoculars over the elevated roadway and in the back of her mind wondered how the hell she was going to get observers up there.

It was doable, she knew. They'd managed to drag their artillery pieces and ammunition, along with spares back to Nellis over the wasteland without losing a person, so this was going to be a simple operation by comparison.

Didn't make it easy though.

"_Maybe if we pull up the rail road tracks and convert them into scaffolding..."_ she mused to herself right before her train of thought was derailed by someone putting a hand on her shoulder.

Raquel's reaction was instantaneous. She whirled around, her elbow up and aimed for her attackers face- only her blow never connected. In a series of disjointed (to her) events, she felt someone grab her, flip her, and slam her onto the viewing platforms table with a grip of iron.

"Hi there!" chirped the purple haired savage that Molly had brought with her. "I don't normally do the kinky stuff with people I don't know, but since we're working for you, I can make an exception..."

"What?" asked an unnerved Raquel, suddenly worried about where the conversation was going.

"But, anyways, Molly sent me over here to tell you that the ant's are dead and that we restarted the power." the purple haired girl continued.

Now she was just plain confused, the abrupt change in topics giving her whiplash. "Huh, wha?" Raquel asked.

"The ants." Ami explained. "The giant ones, the ones in your generator room? They explode if you set them on fire or zap them?"

The mention of explosions set Raquel's brain back on track. "Oh." she said, shaking her head. "Oh, yeah. Them. Thank you." she said, then frowned as she looked down at where the strange girl had her in some bizarre hold, their crotches pressed dangerously close to one another. "Ah, would you mind letting me go?" she asked.

Ami looked down at her, confused. "You don't like the kinky stuff?" she asked.

"Not with girls!" snapped Raquel, then blushed furiously when it occurred to her that she had just said that out loud.

"Oh!" was Ami's response, and she immediately let Raquel go and stood back. "Sorry about that. I didn't know."

"Obviously." Raquel muttered, getting up and looking around to see if there was anyone within earshot. Fortunately, there wasn't. "So why did the blue haired savage send you to tell me that you'd completed your task?" she asked as she composed herself.

"Molly? Oh, she's talking to Pearl, seeing if we can't bivouac here at Nellis rather than outside your fence." answered Ami.

"_If I'm lucky, she'll tell you no and to move your camp out to where we can easily range it_." Raquel thought.

"I'm sure that Pearl will make the best possible decision for the situation." was all that Raquel said on the subject.

Oo000oo000oO

Much to Raquel's chagrin, Molly managed to secure Pearl's permission to camp at Nellis, along with the use of their showers as a token of gratitude for clearing out the ants and getting their generators back on line.

"Well, that was awfully nice of her." Ami commented when Molly relayed the news to the group.

"Yeah, it was." Molly agreed. "Of course, she also helpfully pointed out that if she was a few years younger that she'dve expressed her gratitude in ... _other_ ways."

There was silence for a few moments as everyone processed that little tidbit of information.

"Eeeeeew!" Sara said as she cringed in horror. "Old dyke sex!"

"Hey!" said Ami, jumping in to defend Molly. "I'll have you know that Molly is definitely _not_ an old woman, not with an ass that taunt and firm! And her tits are just as good!"

"Whatever." Sara said with a wave of hand. "Still not something I don't want to see."

"Anyways." Boone said, interrupting the impending argument. "Since there's three of you, why don't you ladies go first?"

"Good idea." Molly said. "Let's go."

"Hey, who said I wanted to shower with fatass here?" Molly asked, pointing at said blue haired sniper.

"Because there's only a limited amount of hot water available." Boone explained. "If you waited, it'd run out."

"I've had cold bath's before." Sara said, crossing her arms defensively. "A cold shower wont kill me."

Boone opened his mouth to say something but Molly beat him to it.

"Sara, have you ever _had_ a hot shower?" she asked.

Sara was silent for a few moments, unsure of why Molly was asking that question. "No." she said.

"So what's more important? You being a petty bitch, or one of the things guaranteed to make you feel human?"

Sara thought about that for several long moments. "Okay." she said. "I do it. It had better be worth having to look at your fat ass." she added, directing that last bit at Molly.

"Hey, I think she has a rather nice ass." Ami said in defense of her friend's rear end. "It's firm, yet bouncy, like ours." she added, indicating herself and Sara.

"I'll get an opinion on my ass from someone who _doesn't_ dye their hair purple, thank you very much." Sara sniffed.

"Oh, I don't dye it." Ami explained. "This is natural."

"Yeah, right." was Sara's response.

Ami frowned at the Khan girl. "You think I'm lying?" she asked.

"Ah, it's kind of obvious..." Sara said, guesting at Ami's neon purple hair.

"Here, let me show you." Ami said, and grabbed Sara by the wrist.

"Hey, what are you doing- let go of me you crazy bitch!" Sara said as Ami drug her away towards the showers.

Molly laughed as Sara was drug protesting off to the showers. "God, I love that crazy girl." she said, then turned to Boone. "Hold down the fort, would ya?" she asked.

"Have fun with the two lunatics." Boone grunted.

Molly laughed and turned away.

Oo000oo000oO

When Molly entered the showers she found Ami stripping off her armor and Sara backed away from her in the corner like she was a wild animal.

"Okay, Ami, you don't have to be so enthusiastic." she said as she came in.

"But she doesn't believe me that I actually have purple hair!" Ami protested.

"Yeah, but you don't have to show her that the curtains match the drapes." Molly pointed out as she began to undo her armor. "You could have just showed her your eyebrows instead."

"Oh." Ami said, pausing in her undressing. "I never thought of that."

Molly chuckled. "That's one of the things that I like about you, ya crazy spaz." she said as she slid her vest off.

"What about these?" Ami asked, pulling back her open jacket and cupping her breasts.

"How could I _not_?" Molly asked, pausing long enough to cast an appreciative glance.

"Why the _fuck_ are your tit's glowing?" Sara asked in a somewhat worried tone.

Ami shrugged and slid her jacket off. "I ate some mushrooms in a cave."

Sara blinked a couple of times, then gave the purple haired girl a confused look. "Why the hell would you go and do something like that?"

Ami got a sheepish look on her face. "I was after my dinner." she said.

"You were hungry... and so you ate strange mushrooms?" Sara asked. "What are you, part fiend?"

"Well, there's more to it than that." Ami added as she unbuckled her gun belt. "I was hunting a bighorner and when I took the shot because some sweat got into my eyes and it caused me to whiff the shot and I got it in the guts instead of the heart, and it went into the cave."

"That's still not a good reason to eat the mushrooms." Sara pointed out. "I mean, I'm a Khan, and I'll eat damn near everything, and I know better than that."

"Well, I didn't want to take something out of my pack because I didn't want to lose the trail, so I kept going, and I was so focused on getting the bighorner that I wasn't thinking things through and I ended up eating about four of the mushrooms before I caught up with the bighorner."

Sara just stared at Ami for a few seconds. "How are you still alive?" she asked.

Ami thought for a second. "I can really fast?" she ventured.

Sara just shook her head.

Molly laughed to herself at the exchange between the two girls and undid the tie holding her hair up and shook it out.

"Wow." Sara said, who couldn't help but notice "You've got some long hair there, fatass."

"I've been growing it out for years now." Molly explained. "On another note, are you two gonna get undressed or not? I'm just asking, because I'm going to take a shower one way on the other."

Ami and Sara both stopped and looked at the now naked Molly.

"Oh." Ami said. "We should do that, shouldn't we?" she asked before unbuckling her belt.

"Ya think?" Sara retorted sarcastically. "Crazy assed bitch." she muttered as she pulled her vest off.

Oo000oo000oO

"Hey, Sara, it looks like you've filled out some."

Sara jerked her head out from under the shower head, wiped the water from her eyes, and gave Molly a glare.

"Listen, fatass, I'm not your little girl toy like the crazy bitch there-" she started to say but Molly held up her hand.

"Sara, calm down. It's possible for someone who likes girls to look at another girl in a nonsexual way." Molly told her with a sigh. "I was just saying, your starting to fill out some. Your not so starved looking."

"Oh." Sara said. "Sorry." she said grudgingly.

"Not a problem." Molly said with a wave of her hand. "How's your shiner?"

Unconsciously Sara gingerly touched her swollen eye. "It's getting better." she said. "It's starting to go down, which is great because I'm starting to get my periph- preiap- I can see out the left side of my face now."

"Peripheral." Ami said from under her shower head. "It's peripheral."

"Thank you Ami." Molly said "Anyways, it's good that you're filling out. I'd like to think that all the food you've been eating has been put to good use."

"Thanks." Sara said as she resumed scrubbing.

"Oh!"

Molly looked over to where Ami had straightened up suddenly. "What?" she asked. "You remember something?"

"Yeah!" Ami said. "I bought you some new panties in New Reno."

"Oh, well thank you." Molly said. "I needed some new pairs."

"You'll like these." Ami said. "Trust me."

"You guys wear underwear?" Sara asked as she scrubbed her air.

Molly gave the Khan a look. "You don't?" she asked. "I know you don't wear a bra, but no panties?"

"Nope." Sara answered. "Are you supposed to?"

"Oh dear." Molly said.

"Uh, Molly, I bought some new pairs for me, I can spare some..." Ami said, tapping Molly on the shoulder.

"Thank you." Molly told her.

Oo000oo000oO

Sara looked up as a freshly showered Boone sat down at the campfire.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey." he answered back, then glanced around the campfire. "Where's Molly and her friend?" he asked.

"The crazy bitch bought fatass some new underwear." Sara said as she poked the fire with a stick. "They went off to go fuck."

"Oh." Boone said. "So how was your shower?"

Sara thought for a few moments. "Nice." she said. "Fatass was right about it."

"There are many things that can be said about the civilizing influence of a hot shower." Boone noted, then his eyebrow arched up as he saw Sara frown and look down at herself. "Problem?" he asked.

Sara sighed and pointed to her hip. "The crazy bitch convinced me to try on some underwear." she explained. "How the hell do people wear these things?"

Boone was silent for a moment. "It's an... individual choice." he said.

"No kidding." Sara said, shifting her position slightly. "Anyways, fatass made dinner." she added. "It's not super spicy."

"What is it?" Boone asked.

"She called it Bighorner and Beef stuffed peppers." Sara said.

Boone grunted. "You've ate?" he asked.

"Yeah." Sara said.

Boone reached for his pack and began to dig out his mess kit while Sara dug a bottle out from her pack. As Boone dished himself up some dinner Sara eased the cork out of the bottle and took a swig.

"Don't drink too much of that." Boone said. "We got to get going early in the morning."

"I know." Sara said as she replaced the cork in the bottle and offered it to him. "Want some?" she asked.

"Yeah." Boone said, and Sara flipped the bottle to him. "Thanks." he said after catching it easily.

Yawning, Sara stared into the fire and poked it again with her stick, then yawned yet. This did not go unnoticed by Boone.

"Sounds like you should hit the rack." he commented between mouthfuls of stuffed pepper.

"Huh?" Sara asked. "What does that mean?"

Swallowing, Boone continued. "It means that you should go to sleep, seeing as how you're yawning so much."

Sara yawned for a third time. "Okay." she said. "I guess you're right. Can I borrow one of your blankets again?" she asked.

"Go right ahead." Boone told her.

"Thanks."

Oo000oo000oO

Boone awoke just over an hour before dawn, and after taking a piss, started coaxing the smoldering remains of the campfire back to life. After a few minutes of effort, he was rewarded with the fire slowly flaring back to life and soon had a pot of coffee heating up over it.

Sitting back, Boone wished there was something else he could do to pass the time while the coffee perked. This was the one thing he hated, not having something to do. It gave him time to think. He hated thinking now.

It was because his thoughts usually drifted back to Carla and that yawning, black, bottomless, pit of guilt and despair-

A slight whimper from Sara diverted his thoughts away from that and he looked over to where the lump huddled underneath one of his blankets twitched and fidgeted.

"No..." the girl whimpered softly.

Boone's brows furrowed in concern. The girl was having a nightmare, and given what her history was, she was probably reliving something very unpleasant. He knew this from personal experience.

Getting up, he went down to where her feet were and gave her ankle a shake.

"Sara, wake up!" he said.

Her reaction was immediate, to say the least. With a yelp, she threw the blanket back and came up swinging, her piece of steel pipe whipping around in an arc through the space where a person's head would be if they were leaning over her.

Fortunately, Boone knew about her twitchy responses to getting woke up and was out of arms reach when she came to. Sara swung again, then her brain caught up to current events and she realized that she wasn't being attacked in her sleep.

"Wha- what the hell?" she asked, confused and looking around.

"You were having a nightmare." Boone said quietly, making her jump.

Sara looked down at where Boone was kneeling at the foot of her ad hoc bed. "Oh." she said, rubbing her eye. "Yeah. Thanks for waking me up."

"You're welcome." Boone said, and stood up.

As he went back to where he was sitting, Sara turned a looked at the eastern horizon. "Sun's gonna be up soon.' she commented.

"Yeah." Boone grunted. "I got coffee brewing."

"Good." Sara said. "You got breakfast ready too?"

"Nope." Boone answered. "I was just about to start making it when you had your nightmare."

"Oh." Sara said, pulling the blanket up around herself. "Dried bighorner?"

"Yeah." Boone said. "You want some?"

Sara nodded, then snapped her head around suddenly, looking off into the darkness.

"What?" Boone asked.

"I hear footsteps." Sara said, worming her hand out from under her blanket towards her varmint rifle.

Boone grunted in acknowledgment and dropped his hand towards where his rifle was laying on the ground. "Who's out there?" he called out.

"Just us Boomer's." a voice answered in return from the blackness, male, young, perhaps early his twenties. "We heard a girl screaming and are just checking it out."

"I had a nightmare." Sara yelled back. "I'm okay now."

The voice was silent for a moment. "Okay. Just making sure." it said, then footsteps started fading away.

When they had faded away completely they relaxed and Boone turned to Sara. "So. Breakfast?" he asked.

Sara nodded and Boone began digging around in his pack.

Oo000oo000oO

The sun was just edging over the horizon, a sliver of light blazing on the Eastern horizon when Boone and Sara walked out the Boomers front gate, heading down the cracked and broken pavement towards Vegas.

As they trudged along the road the sun rose higher in the sky, lighting up the ruins of the houses surrounding Nellis and turning them from troubling, soul haunting ruins, to merely a field of smashed and broken houses with craters spaced around them.

"Hey." Sara said a thought struck her suddenly. "Why the hell is the road in one piece?" she asked.

Boone stopped and looked at the ruins surrounding them. "Maybe they deliberately leave it untouched?" he asked. "Keep the areas off the side zeroed in as a kill zone?"

Sara looked around, shrugged. "Whatever. We don't have time to stand around and think about it."

Boone grunted and they resumed walking.

Thirty minutes later, they were cresting a rise with Boone in the lead when he stopped suddenly, crouching down and holding up his hand signaling a stop.

"What is it?" Sara asked from behind him as she unslung her varmint rifle.

"Someone on the road ahead of us." Boone said.

Sara thought for a moment. "Fiends don't range this far North and East." she said.

"He's not a Fiend." Boone said.

"Viper?" Sara asked.

Boone shook his head in the negative. "No. He's dressed in regular clothes, no armor." he said.

"Any guns?" Sara asked, a ... _predatory_ look starting to gleam in her eye.

Boone shouldered his rifle and sighted in on the man. "Looks like just a handgun." he said.

"No real guns, no armor, and he's alone?" Sara asked as she checked the chamber on her rifle. "Easy kill then."

Boone whipped his head around to glare at her. "Sara!" he hissed. "We are _not_ going to kill him!"

"Why not?" she asked, her expression now very predatory. "He's out here, all alone, no weapons, no armor. He's just asking to get killed."

"That's not a justification for murder." Boone said firmly.

"What? Odds are he's gonna get killed anyways." Sara said defensively. "Better us than someone else."

"**No**." Boone said forcefully. "We are **not** killing him for no reason."

"So let's find a reason and shoot him." Sara said. Boone glared at her. "Okay, we'll do it your way." she said with a sigh and lowered her rifle.

"Thank you." Boone said and stood up.

Slinging his rifle, they started walking down the road towards where the man was milling around in the road.

"Hey there." Boone said as they approached.

The man jumped in surprise and whirled around to face them, clearly not expecting anyone to be coming from the direction of Nellis.

"Whoa, are you- you can't be-" the man stuttered as he gaped at them.

"No, we're not Boomers." Boone said.

"So how are you still alive?" the man asked. "If you're coming from Nellis?"

Sara smiled. "They like us." she said.

"No way." the man said, his disbelief clearly audible in his voice. "You couldn't have made it past their artillery. I'd bet caps on it."

"Really..." Sara said. "Care to put 'em where your mouth is?"

The man gave her a long look. "I don't think that you've _got_ the caps." he said.

Sara got a cocky look on her face and struck a pose, arms folded. "You wanna bet?" she asked. "What're your terms?" she asked.

"Two hundred caps, and if you make it back it'll be double that." the man said.

"deal." Sara said and reached for her bag of caps. "You try and run off on me, and I'll hunt you down and feed you to the Fiends." she said as she handed him the caps.

"Hey, there's no need for that." the man said. "I'll be here." he said. "_If_ you make it back."

Sara gave him a grin that made him just a little bit uncomfortable. "Don't worry, I will be."

Oo000oo000oO

"Was that necessary?" Boone asked as they walked away. "Are you that determined to get caps out of him?"

"Hey, what would you have me do? Collect a bet from him or kill him?" Sara asked.

"I'm going with the bet." Boone said without hesitation.

Oo000oo000oO

End.


	14. Chapter 15

Echo's of Eras Past

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A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

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By Zombie Boy

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_Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose_.

Rules for a gunfight, Rule # 11.

Oo000oo000oO

Chapter Fifteen

"So, you've volunteered then?"

Molly stood at attention, her back ramrod straight. She was in her fathers office, and he was at his desk. All around her were mementos of his service, little reminders of what she had to live up to.

"Yes, sir." she said crisply.

Her father grunted in reply as he read a report, a scowl beginning to crease his features.

"You don't have to do this, you know." he said, putting the report down and looking up at his daughter. "I'd be proud of you no matter what. You've always sought to be the best at everything you do."

"Yes, sir." Molly said again, staring straight ahead at a point on the wall behind her fathers desk.

Her new uniform itched, there was a spot just under her shoulder blades that was being _really_ irritating, but there was no way in hell she was going to scratch it...

Her father sighed in exasperation and sat up straight in his chair. "Molly, at ease!" he commanded.

Instantly, Molly obeyed, shifting from ramrod straight to the much more comfortable at ease position. Clasping her arms behind her back, she flexed her fingers and took care of that itch under her shoulder blades. _"Muuch better..."_

Her father leaned back in his chair and considered his daughter for a few moments.

"Molly, I'm as proud of you as a father can be, but, can we drop the formalities for a little while? Fraternization doesn't cover a father wanting to talk to his daughter." he explained. "You may be PFC Libby to the chain of command, but to me you're always going to be my little Mollypop."

Molly smiled at her fathers uttering of his nickname for her. "I know sir- I mean, Dad." she said with a chuckle. "But I've gotten so used to having to look good because you're Quartermaster-General, that I forgot that you're my Dad, too."

Her father cracked a smile when she said that. "I know." he said. "Every now and then I have to remind myself that you're not just my daughter, but Private First Class Molly Libby."

He sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose, one of his little personal tics that he had when he had to do something unpleasant. Molly didn't even have to guess as to what he was going to talk about next.

"So." he began. "Lightfoot."

Molly nodded slightly. "Lightfoot." she echoed.

"You volunteered." he stated.

"Yes."

Her father frowned. "Why?"

Molly had figured he was going to ask a question like this, and so had came up with an answer beforehand.

"It's the toughest program out there, from what I've heard." she said.

Her father was silent for a moment. "I know better by now, than to try and dissuade you." he said. "I can't even order you to quit- I have no authority in this. Hell, I barely have enough clearance to know about the projects _name_.

But I do have a request: _Be careful_. And keep in contact. Your mother's going to be worried sick about you, and regular letters will go a long way in keeping her happy."

"I will, Dad." she said, and and that's when she woke up.

Molly woke to the sun's light flooding in through the windows of the Nellis control towers upper stories. She was lying on the floor, wrapped up in blankets.

Blinking a couple of times, she lay there, staring up at the ceiling, watching motes of dust dance slowly in the sunlight. A sudden snore reminded her that Ami was sleeping next to her in a tangle of blankets and limbs.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Molly looked around at their surroundings. They were in an old conference room in the main tower building, a place that Pearl had recommended to them. According to her, the youngsters liked to use it as a place to hook up, allowing them to get laid without the whole base knowing.

Molly had thanked Pearl for the info and they had headed straight for it as soon as they could. Yawning, Molly straightened up and stretched. Tapping her Pip-Boy, her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she saw what time it was.

"Ami, wake up." she said, reaching over to shake the purple haired girl awake.

Ami groaned and tried to roll over. "Five more minutes, Momma. Mr Bubbles needs more cheese..." she mumbled.

Molly gave her a puzzled look for a moment, shook her head, and decided to do the thing that was guaranteed to get Ami awake and ready to go. Clearing her throat, Molly cupped a hand to her mouth and made a sound like a startled Brahman.

It worked. Ami's eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up onto her knees in one smooth motion.

"Crap! Somethings bothering the Brahman-" she started to exclaim before her brain caught up with reality. "Hey. This isn't back home."

"No, it's not." Molly said, happily eying Ami's bare breasts as they bounced right in front of her. "You're in the Mojave."

"Oh." was Ami's response and then she stretched.

"Mr Bubbles?" Molly asked as she watched her purple haired friend stretch.

"He's our bull back home." Ami explained. "What time is it?"

" A quarter after seven in the morning." Molly answered.

"Crap. We had better get going." Ami said, shaking her head.

"Yeah." Molly said, and began to disentangle herself from her blankets.

Oo000oo000oO

They made it to the Crimson Caravan compound by late midafternoon, walking casually up to the gate and the lone, bored looking, guard standing in front of it.

"Yeah, what do you want?" the guard asked as Boone and Sara came walking up to him.

"We're looking for someone." Boone said.

"Who?" the guard asked.

"Redhead, woman, in her early twenties, does runs that go by Nellis." Boone explained.

The guard thought for a moment, then nodded. "You'll want Janet." he said. "She's usually by the Brahman pen."

Sara arched an eyebrow. "She likes to hang out with _cows_?" she asked.

"She's a 'skinner." the guard explained "She's one of the people who take care of them."

"Oh." Sara said.

"Thanks." Boone said, and headed through the gate.

Following Boone through the gate, Sara looked around at the interior of the Crimson Caravan Company, and was... unimpressed. It was just a bunch of people milling about, a pen full of Brahman, and a few long houses on stilts.

"_Well, this sucks."_ she thought. _"Nothing here worth spending the ammo for_."

Boone, meanwhile, was angling towards the Brahman pen, where there was a redheaded woman milling around in it.

"That's gotta be her." Sara said, getting a confirming grunt from Boone.

"Hey." Boone called out when they got close to her. "Are you Janet?" he asked.

The redhead looked up from where she was looking over a Brahman. "Yeah." she said. "Who's asking?"

"I'm Boone, this is Sara." Boone said, pointing to himself and Sara. "Do you go by Nellis AFB?" he asked.

The woman nodded. "Yeah?" she asked. "Why do you ask?"

"When you go by there, do you ever see a blond haired guy?" Boone asked.

Janet's face brightened when Boone said that. "Yeah, blond, kind of scruffy looking?" she asked. "I've seen him looking back at me when look at the place through my binoculars."

Boone nodded. "Yeah. His name's Jack, and he has a letter for you." he said, reaching into his pack and taking out the letter.

"Huh." Janet said as she took the letter from Boone. "That's sweet..."

Boone and Sara waited as Janet read the letter. As she waited, Sara looked around at her surroundings, flipped a guard off who was giving her a look, and then started making faces at one of the Brahman.

"Well." Janet said when she finished reading the letter. "He's certainly interesting, and I'd love to meet him."

"I'll pass that along." Boone said.

Behind him, Sara snickered and rubbed her hands together in anticipatory glee. Janet looked at Sara and then over to Boone with a raised eyebrow.

"She's going to be collecting on a bet." he explained. "Unrelated to this."

Janet nodded, keeping an eye on the girl nonetheless. "Okay." she said. "So you'll tell him?" she asked.

"Yeah." Boone said.

Oo000oo000oO

"Are you _La Fantoma_?"

Molly and Ami stopped and looked down at the Little Boomer girl standing in front of them.

"Huh?" Molly asked.

"Are you _La Fantoma_?" the girl asked again, pointing at Ami.

Ami looked at the girl in confusion for a moment, then down at herself.

"Oh!" she said as she realized the reasoning behind the girls question "My armor!"

That's when Molly got it too: Ami's armor, or rather it's purple coloring. Add in Ami's purple hair, and she could see how a kid could make that assumption.

Ami looked around, and then leaned in close to the Little Boomer. "Ah, confidentially, I _am_ La Fantoma, but you gotta keep it a secret, ok?" she said in a confidential whisper. "I gotta keep a low profile because the Ant-Agonizer is looking for me."

"Ohhhhh..." the Little Boomer said, her eyes going wide. Looking around, she leaned in close to Ami and beckoned her closer.

"Yes?" Ami asked.

"I lost my bear, Mr Cuddles." the girl said. "Could you find him for me?"

Ami looked around for a second an then nodded. "Sure." she said. "What's your name so when I find him I can tell him who sent me?" she asked.

"Lindsey."

Ami nodded. "Okay, Lindsay, Molly and I will go look for him."

"Thank you, Miss La Fantoma!" Lindsay said before running off.

Molly waited until the girl was out of earshot before giving her friend a look. "La Fantoma?" she asked in a deadpan tone.

"Hush, sidekick!" Ami said as she struck a heroic pose. "Duty calls! La Fantoma away!"

Molly rolled her eyes as her friend dashed off towards the hangers. "Oh brother..."

Oo000oo000oO

"Okay, so how are we gonna get someplace safe to sleep?" Sara asked as they walked out of the Crimson Caravan's compound. "This place is Fiend territory after sundown."

"Go north." Boone said. "We're at the edge of the of the ruins around New Vegas. We go north, that'll take us out of them and bring us into the open terrain, set up camp out there."

"So it'll be harder for them to try and attack us?" Sara ventured.

"Yeah." Boone said.

"Okay." Sara said. "Let's get moving."

Oo000oo000oO

"Just where the hell did the kid leave her bear?" Molly muttered under her breath as she played the light from her Pip-Boy into the shadows of the crates she was checking.

They had checked the first hanger that the Boomers were using as a mess hall and the only thing that they had found there was dust, a few cobwebs, and some odd looks from the Boomers that were in there.

Molly could handle the odd looks. It was the heavy weapons that the Boomers had been packing that had her concerned. When they had came up empty in their search she and Ami had moved their search over to the second hanger where the Boomers had their workshop.

They had taken a few moments to stand and gawk at the wrecked remains of an Old World airplane that were in the hanger, then had started their search (after explaining to the old man in charge of the hanger just what it was they were doing).

And so thus Molly found herself using her Pip Light to check for a missing teddy bear.

"_I wonder if Dad ever had to do this for Miss Ellis?"_ she thought as she searched.

A smile came to her face at the thought of her father, a two star general, poking around nooks and crannies with a flashlight looking for a doll.

"Mr Cuuuudles!" Ami called from the other side of the hanger.

Molly paused in her search to glance at the odd purple haired girl on the other side of the hanger who was looking around some shelves. She'd known her for years, and was pretty much immune to Ami's weirdness, but every now and then she still managed to surprise her.

Then for some reason the thought of her father calling out for Miss Ellis as he looked around with a flashlight made her sputter as she choked back a laugh.

"You okay over there?" Ami asked, hearing Molly's sputterings.

"I'm fine!" Molly answered. "It's just some dust!"

"Okay." Ami said and went back to what she was doing.

Shaking her head to clear it of such hilarious thoughts, Molly went around to the backside of a couple of crates and stopped dead when her light caught a fussy ursine rump.

"Mr Cuddles, I presume?" Molly said as she picked up the bear. "Hey, I found the bear!" she called out to Ami.

"Oh, good!" Ami said as she started hurrying over to where Molly was. "Lets get him back to his little girl."

Oo000oo000oO

"Hey, Boone."

Boone glanced back at Sara as they moved through the ruins of Northeast Las Vegas.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why don't we camp there?" she asked, pointing at a building underneath a partially collapsed overpass.

Boone stopped for a second to take out his canteen and consider the structure. The overpass had collapsed more or less all around the building, leaving a large pile of rubble that sloped up almost to the roof, but allowing no real access to the interior...

"Interesting." Boone grunted after taking a drink. "Lets check it out."

Ten minutes later, after walking around it, they discovered that the building was indeed surrounded by rubble, but other wise appeared intact.

"So." Sara said. "What do you think?"

Boone pursed his lips in thought for a moment. The building was intact, and didn't show signs of having been used by the Fiends. It was also in one piece, and the rubble, while allowing access to the roof, didn't make it easy access.

It was also elevated and allowed a clear field of fire at the ruins, which were also pluses. Adding in the fact that the sun was about half a hand's width from the horizon, and Boone was able to reach a decision.

"Alright." he said. "It looks good."

Sara smirked in triumph and started scrambling up the rubble to the roof with Boone following at a much slower pace.

"_Why is it two of the three women I've met recently have a thing for climbing?"_ he thought as he glanced up at just the right time to get look at the curvature of Sara's ass.

Jerking his gaze back down Boone focused on his climbing instead of Sara's posterior.

Oo000oo000oO

The bottom edge of the sun's disk was just touching the Sierras when Molly and Ami left the second Boomers hanger.

"Wow. We sure spent a lot of time looking for Mr Cuddles, didn't we?" Ami asked as she looked at the Western horizon.

"Yeah, we did." Molly agreed.

"You certainly know how to hide, don't you?" Ami asked, holding Mr Cuddles up and looking him in the eye. "You really shouldn't do that. The little girl who- waitaminute." she continued, stopping suddenly when a thought occurred to her. "Molly..."

"Yeah?" Molly asked.

"Did you get that little girls name?" Ami asked. "The one who sent us to go get Mr Cuddles here?"

Molly thought for a moment. "I think it's Lindsay." she answered. "At least, I think it is. I heard one of the other kids call her that."

"Oh, okay." Ami said, then turned her attention back to the bear. "Anyways, you had Lindsay very worried. You shouldn't do that."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we be getting him back _to_ her?" Molly suggested.

"Oh, yeah, we should." Ami said, then looked around at the vast expanse of Nellis. "So where do you think she _is_?"

Molly looked to were there were a cluster of buildings at the far end of the hanger. "Down there, probably. It's gonna be dark soon, and that's their barracks down there." she added, pointing in the direction of the barracks.

"Off we go then." Ami said as she started walking.

By the time that they found the Little Boomers barracks the sun was halfway below the horizon. Mounting the steps, Molly knocked on the door. After few moments wait, the door was answered by a boy.

"Rawr! I'm a dinosaur!" the boy said, aping like what an eight year old boy thought a T-Rex acted like.

"And you're very scary." Molly said, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile. "Is Lindsay in?" she asked.

"Yeah." the boy said. "Hey, Lindsay, there's a couple of savages here to see you!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Footsteps came pounding up and with a yelp, then the boy was shoved out of the way by Lindsay. "Did you find him?" she asked. "Did you find Mr Cuddles?"

"Yeah." Ami said, and held out the bear to Lindsay. "Here he is. He got lost."

"Where was was he?" asked Lindsay as she snatched the bear out of Ami's hands and enveloped it in a massive hug.

"The hanger with the wrecked plane in it." Molly answered. "He was sitting in amongst some crates."

"He was scared." Ami added in. "But we rescued him."

"Thank you!" Lindsay said, then leaned in close to Ami. "Is there any way I can pay you back, Miss La Fantoma?" she asked in a whisper.

Ami leaned in close to Lindsay. "Just keep hugging Mr Cuddles." she whispered back. "But if I need help with the Ant-Agonizer, you'll be the first one I call."

"Okay!" Lindsay said. "Thank you, Miss La Fantoma!"

Ami and Molly watched as the girl turned on her heel and went back inside the barracks.

"Well, that was a good deed." Molly said, pulling the barracks door shut and heading down the steps. "First time I ever had to go rescue a teddy bear though."

"Oh, hush. You're glad you did it." Ami chided.

"Hey, I'm not denying it." Molly said as they began to thread their way between the barracks buildings. "It's just... _different_."

"And it's greatly appreciated."

Molly and Ami stopped and turned to face in the direction of the voice. It was Pearl, sitting on the steps of her personal quarters.

"Oh, thank you." Molly said.

"You're welcome." Pearl replied. "Keep up the good work."

Molly smiled. "We will." she replied.

Oo000oo000oO

The roof of the building was surprisingly intact, much to Boone's surprise. With the debris piled around it, he had figured that at the very least that it would have been holed.

There was some patio furniture and an old barbecue up there, along with a tattered umbrella, and off in the corner was a crumbling pigeon coop. The only other feature of note was the roof entrance, which Sara headed to immediately.

"What are you doing?" Boone asked.

"Making sure that the door is locked." Sara answered. "It'd suck to find out that there's ghouls or a way in through the basement in the middle of the night." she added, twisting the knob and giving it a pull.

The door stayed closed and Sara nodded to herself.

"It's locked." she declared.

"That's good." Boone said, looking at the coop. "We can use that thing for firewood." he added.

"Good idea." Sara said. "Dibs on the chair that ain't broke."

Boone grunted in reply.

Oo000oo000oO

End..


	15. Chapter 16

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_A proverbial word spitter  
>Does not phase me;<br>Leaving me injunctured  
>Is the goal<br>Surely.  
>The crossroads<br>Are but fitting for nothing  
>In my atlas, my map. <em>

_Crossroads Repentant,_ by Jessica Thompson.

Oo000oo000oO

That strange couple George had met who claimed that they had been able to visit the Boomers came back from wherever they had went after meeting with him.

"Hi there!" he called out to them as they approached.

"Hi." the man grunted.

"Hey, fucknut." the girl said as an anti greeting. "Hope you're ready to pay up."

"If you make it back without getting blown up, I will." George replied.

"If you want, you can watch as we walk up to the gate to make sure we're not bullshitting you." offered the girl.

"Thank you, but no." George said with a shake of his head.

The girl smirked and pointed to the top of the hill. "You can watch from up there." she suggested. "Just go up enough to look over the top. They probably won't shoot at you."

George gave her a slightly incredulous look. "I"ll pass." he said.

"Your loss." she said as they walked on.

George watched as they headed up over the hill and out of sight. Mentally, he began to count off the seconds, waiting for the sound of incoming artillery shells.

They never came.

George rocked back onto his heels as he realized that the man and the girl had been telling the truth.

"Well now." he said to himself as he looked at the top of the hill. "I wonder how they pulled that off."

George thought for a moment, and looked back out across the Wasteland to where the gray silhouette of New Vegas shimmered in the distance.

"I really hope that this doesn't get to be a regular thing." he said. "Otherwise, I'm gonna go broke."

Oo000oo000oO

Jack was at a workbench stripping down an old piece of equipment for it's parts when Boone and Sara found him.

"Hey." Boone said as they came up to him. "We talked to your redhead. Her name's Janet."

"Oh!" Jack said, putting down his screwdriver. "What did she say?"

"She said that she'd like to meet you.' Boone said.

"Cool!" Jack said, then his face fell. "Wait. Pearl."

"What about her?" Boone asked.

Jack sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Janet's gotta get permission from Pearl before she can come here."

Behind him Sara rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Boone ignored her.

"So we gotta talk to the woman in charge?" Boone asked.

Jacked nodded. "Yeah, Pearl, our elder." he answered.

"Okay, then." Boone said with a sigh. "We gotta go talk to the boss."

Oo000oo000oO

"Hey, Molly, Sara and Boone are back."

Molly looked up from where she was helping one of the Little Boomers with his boxing moves. "Yeah, that is them. They must have just made it in."

"Huh." Ami said and started waving at them. "Hey! Boone, Sara!" she yelled. "Over here!"

The pair altered course and headed for where she and Molly were.

"Just what the hell are you doing?" Sara demanded as they came up to them. "We're walking all over the ass end of the Wasteland and you two are fucking around with some kids?"

"Hey, we're helping them!" protested Ami. "Molly's teaching him about boxing!"

"Still looks like you're playing with some kids." Sara pressed.

"Believe it or not Sara, we _are_ actually helping the Boomers here." Molly told her.

"Don't look like." Sara said.

Molly smiled. "Okay kiddo, you mind if I talk to my friend?" she asked the boy who was punching her hands. "It'll just be for a few minutes."

"Okay." the kid said, and wandered off doing practice jab at thin air.

Molly stood up and faced Sara. "Okay, Sara, let me explain something." she said. "We're trying to get on the Boomer's good side here. While you and Boone have been walking back and forth across the Wasteland, we've been running all over Nellis helping with the kids.

Trust me, we've not been sitting around goofing off."

Sara huffed and looked over at where the Little Boomers were doing what kids do when let for recess.

"You've been helping the kids?" she asked.

"Yeah." Molly said.

"And you didn't have to shoot any of the little ba-"

"Sara!" Boone and Molly said before she could complete her sentence.

She glared at the two of them before she continued. "Anyways, you've been helping out the kids?" she asked. "Without wanting to shoot them or yourself?"

"Yeah." Molly said.

"Damn."

Molly chuckled and looked at Boone. "So, what are you two up to?" she asked him.

"Gotta talk to Pearl." Boone answered. "Our boy Jack wants to meet his redhead, but first we gotta secure permission for her from Pearl."

"Ah." Molly said in understanding.

"Don't forget a way to keep her from getting blown up." Ami added. "Artillery shells can ruin your day in a hurry."

Boone sighed, removed his beret and ran a hand over his bare scalp. "I was going to get Pearls permission first." he said. "The second part is going to be kind of pointless if she doesn't have permission to come here."

"You got a point there." Molly said. "You want me to come with? I'm pretty good with people, remember?" she suggested.

Boone thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah." he said. "It couldn't hurt."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Great. Dyke on old dyke action." she muttered.

Molly gave Sara a look. "Do you enjoy pissing people off, Sara?" she asked.

Sara stuck out her tongue at Molly. "Fuck you, Fatass." she said.

Molly smirked. "Sorry, Sara, but you're a little too young for my taste." she said. "Besides, I thought that you didn't like girls."

Sara response was to flip Molly the bird.

Oo000oo000oO

Pearl, as usual, was in her quarters.

"So, how can I help you?" Pearl asked.

Molly was the one who spoke up. "Well, you know Loyal's assistant, Jack?" she asked.

Pearl nodded. "Yes." she said. "What about him?"

"Well, he's interested in a girl." Molly explained.

Pearl's face brightened when Molly said that. "Well, that's wonderful!" she said.

"There's one small problem, though." Molly pointed out. "She's an outsider, like us."

Pear frowned when Molly said that." That _is_ a problem outsider." she said. "For while we let you and your friends onto our base, it's quite another thing to let an outsider come and live with us."

"True." Molly said with a nod. "But, allow me to point out a couple of things."

"Go on." Pearl said.

"First, you guys need fresh blood." Molly began, counting off on her fingers "You were raised in a Vault, you know about genetic diversity. You guys have got too small of a population.

Second, Boone tells me that she's with the Crimson Caravan Company. Do you have any idea on just how useful someone like that can be for your tribe? While you guys might be self sufficient and self contained, trade can make you guy's life a _lot_ better.

Third, and this is a very important point, you guys need contact with the outside world, at the very least so you know what the hell is going. The Legion being a case in point."

Pearl listened to Molly's explanation, then mused over what she had said for a few moments.

"You make some good points, outsider." she said. "Because you and your friends have been helping us, I'll allow it." she said. "You may go and tell Jack that she may join us."

Molly nodded and turned to Boone and Sara. "Well, I got that taken care of for you guys." she said.

Boone nodded. "Thanks." he said. "Let's go." he said to Sara.

Oo000oo000oO

The first place that Boone and Sara stopped at was the hanger that Jack worked at.

"Well?" Jack asked when they showed up.

Boone nodded. "Pearl said yes." he said.

"That's great!" Jack said, joy lighting up his face. "Here, she's gonna need this." he added, reaching under his workbench and handing Boone a bundle. "This is one of our flight suits. She's gonna need this to get past our artillery."

"Okay." Boone said as he took the suit. "Thanks. We'll get this to her right away."

"Thank you..." Jack said.

When they got out of the hanger Sara nudged Boone. "Hey, is it me or is it just a little creepy that he had a Boomer Suit _ready_ for her?" she asked.

"A little." Boone said. "Love makes you do weird things sometimes." he added, sounding slightly unconvinced.

"Hmph." was Sara's response. "If love makes you act like a retarded fuck, then count me out." she added, then looked up at where the sun was in the sky. "Fuck. I hate this time of year. The days are too short." she commented. "We wouldn't make it a quarter of the way to that camping spot we found."

Boone grunted in agreement. "Yeah. Secure, defensible, camping spots are hard to come by in the ruins of Vegas." he said.

"So, what do we do? Wait here and get going at sunrise?" Sara asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Boone said.

Sara nodded. "Good." she said. "Now lets go. We still got enough daylight left."

"For what?" Boone asked.

"Fucknut." Sara said, pointing in the direction of the main gate. "I aim to collect my bet."

"We're not shooting him." Boone said.

"What?" Sara asked, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Did I say I was gonna shoot him?" she asked.

"You did when we first ran into him." Boone pointed out.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Okay, I wanted to shoot him _then,_ but you said no, so I'm not going to shoot him." she said with a hint of exasperation.

"Good." Boone said.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly's giving a boxing lesson had attracted the attention of some of the older Boomers and Raquel, and she had found herself giving them a few lessons.

"Okay, then." she said as she held Raquel in a come along hold. "Did you guys see what I was talking about?" she asked.

There was a chorus of nods from all around.

"Good." she said. "_That's_ why you shouldn't telegraph. You end up like Raquel here."

"Ow..." Raquel said.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt you." Molly said. "I know what I'm doing.

Anyways. As I was saying, this is why you _don't_ telegraph your moves. So, Raquel, you want to try again?"

"Yes." Raquel ground out through clenched teeth.

"That's the spirit!" Molly said as she released Raquel from the hold. "So, get into position and we can go again." she added, giving Raquel a slap on the ass.

Raquel twitched and her eye got a twitch. Facing off against each other, Raquel was the first to make a move, coming in at her low. It looked like to her that her attack was going to connect, but at the last instant she found her momentum being redirected and the next thing she knew she was flat on her back on the ground.

"Another thing, keep your head. " she said. "See what happened when she got angry?"

Raquel growled and tried to give Molly a sweeper kick. Molly did _something_ that involved grabbing her leg and the next thing she knew she was now lying face down in the dirt and the outsider was sitting on her with her leg twisted up into a hold.

"See what I mean?" she asked. "Raquel could have got me, _if she had kept her head_. She didn't, and now look at her."

"Get off of me." Raquel growled.

"Sure." Molly said and let go of Raquel's leg.

As she stood up Molly managed to get in a two handed grope on Raquel's ass. With an outraged squawk, Raquel whirled around and slapped Molly square across the face.

Molly rocked slightly from the blow, then she straightened back up and laughed.

"That's more like it." she said.

To say that Raquel was surprised with Molly's reaction would be to understate things greatly.

"What?" she asked, not really comprehending what was going on.

"What you did there." Molly said. "You didn't think, you didn't telegraph, you just did it. You acted instead of thinking. _That_ is how you win in unarmed combat. It's not the fancy moves, it's the speed at which you apply violence."

Raquel and the other Boomers paused for a moment as they pondered what Molly had said.

"Think about that." Molly said as she stretched. "So, who's next?" she asked.

"That'd be me." a male voice said.

Said male was a Boomer who was about her height and skinny, with wiry muscles showing under his vault suit. Molly narrowed her eyes slightly and cocked her head to one side as she took his measure, and grinned.

"Oh, this is gonna be _fun_." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

"Hey fucknut!"

George was startled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice and turned around to see that weird couple coming over the crest of the hill towards him.

"Oh, hi there!" George said as they came towards him. "What can I do for you?"

"You can pay up, cocksucker." the girl said, holding out her left hand palm up.

George frowned as he went for his caps. "Hey now, there's no need for that kind of language..." he started to say.

"Just hand over the fucking caps." the girl said impatiently, tapping a piece of pipe in her right hand against her thigh.

George looked at the piece of pipe, realized that he was well within arms reach of her, and shut up. After a couple of minutes he had the caps counted out and handed them over to her.

"Here you go." he said.

"About fucking time." the girl grumbled and scooped the caps out of his hand and into a pouch on her belt.

Turning on her heel, the girl started heading back up the hill. Her partner, on the other hand, stayed behind.

"Hey." the man said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Unlike the girl, the man seemed peaceable enough and not hostile, so George nodded and he continued.

"You might want to consider another line of work." the man told him.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

Boone glanced back at his partner who was about twenty yards away by now then back to him.

"This might be pretty lucrative, fleecing people who try to run the gauntlet of the Boomers guns, but you really should give it up." the man explained, and then pointed at his partner. "When we spotted you, she wanted to put a bullet in you and roll your corpse. I dissuaded her from doing that. Take that for what it is."

With that, the man abruptly turned and started jogging back up the hill to catch up to his partner. George watched them go, feeling soddenly chilled despite the Mojave heat. He hadn't realized just how close he'd came to death.

Oo000oo000oO

"So, what'd you and that fucknut talk about?" Sara asked when Boone caught up with her and they were over the hill.

"I gave him a warning." Boone said.

"About what?" Sara asked.

"About how dangerous the Wasteland is." Boone elaborated.

Sara looked over her shoulder at Boone. "You warned him about me, didn't you?" she asked.

Boone was silent for a moment.

"Yes." he said. "Is that a problem?" he asked.

Sara thought about it for a few moments. "No." she said. "I actually like it. Means I'm dangerous. Means people will respect me."

"Everyone's dangerous." Boone commented. "And that's fear, not respect."

"Whatever." Sara said, dismissing his correction with a wave of her hand. "As long as people think I'm not an easy mark, I could care less if they respect or fear me."

"There's a difference, you know." Boone pointed out.

"Uh huh." Sara said skeptically. "How so?"

Boone thought for a moment before he replied. "The Legion rules and operates through fear." he explained. "On the other hand, the Followers operate on mutual respect. Which one of those groups do you think has an easier time operating in the Mojave?"

"The Legion." Sara answered. "The Followers get kicked around by the NCR _and_ the Legion, Boone, for all the good they do."

"You actually think that might makes right?" asked Boone.

Sara shrugged. "If it keeps me from getting raped, or having to turn tricks to get something to eat, then yeah." she said.

Boone grunted in reply, and mentally kicked himself.

"_She's a Khan, Craig._" he thought to himself. "_She looks at things a little differently than you do_."

"Though if the Followers would quit being pussies and learn how to kick ass every now and then, they'd probably get left alone by the NCR and the Legion." Sara commented.

"Like how the Khans did?" Boone asked, bitterness creeping into his voice.

Sara shook her head. "No, not like what we did." she said. "We brought that on ourselves. There's a difference between not taking shit, and kicking over a Cazadore nest. We kicked over a Cazadore nest."

Boone looked at Sara in surprise. That was _not_ the answer he was expecting. "That's not what I'd expect a Khan to say." he said.

"It's the truth." Sara said. "We picked a fight with someone who was a hell of a lot bigger than us. I watched it happen, remember?"

"So did I." Boone said, scowling at the memory of Bitter Springs.

"Yeah, and we're both fucked up because of that." Sara said. "Anyways, on more important things, you know how to cook?"

The sudden change in the conversation nearly gave Boone semantic whiplash. "Yeah, some." he said.

"Good." Sara said. "As good as Fatass's cooking is, she uses way too many gorramed peppers in everything."

Oo000oo000oO

Taking a long drink from her canteen, Molly watched as the last of the Boomers headed off in the dying light of the setting sun. She had ended up spending the day teaching the adult Boomers in hand to hand techniques, and she was, to put it mildly, wore out.

Her muscles felt like overcooked spaghetti, she was covered in dirt, sweaty, and starving.

_But_.

She also had a sense of accomplishment, in that her student's had walked away from her lessons having learned something, and that was well worth it.

"Hello there, outsider."

Molly lowered her canteen and turned to see Pearl walking up to her along with another man who looked to be about the same age as she was.

"Hey, Pearl." Molly said, returning the Boomer elder's greeting. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing." Pearl responded. "Loyal and I are just going out for a walk."

Molly nodded and glanced at the western horizon, where the sun was beginning to hemorrhage out over the Sierras.

"Don't blame you." she said, and nodded to the horizon. "beautiful sunset."

Pearl glanced at the horizon and took a moment to consider it, then turned her attention back to Molly.

"It is." she agreed. "Anyways, I saw you and Raquel along with a good portion of our security and I was wondering what was going on."

"That?" Molly asked. "Oh, I was just teaching them some hand to hand. I figured that they might need it."

Pearl nodded as Loyal spoke up. "You don't think that our artillery can keep out intruders, outsider?" he asked.

Molly shook her head. "No, I'm not saying that. It works great at keeping people out. It's just that there's a chance that someone might be able to sneak in. I mean, I was able to do it, so someone else probably can, too."

"The outsider raises a good point, Loyal." Pearl pointed out. "While it is true that we are isolated, it's also a good idea to be prepared."

Loyal _hmphfed_ and fixed his gaze on a spot on the horizon. "To tell the truth, I'm more worried about those solar panels." he grumbled.

A light bulb went off in Molly's head at Loyal's comment, for it instantly reminded her of the Poseidon Energy plant outside of Novac.

"Solar panels?" she asked.

Loyal pointed to a spot on the horizon. "Our power plant." he explained. "There's a solar array on the roof, and some of the panels are damaged, and we don't have replacement parts for them.

Molly smiled. "I think I might be able to help you with that." she offered. "If you don't mind, of course."

Loyal shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all." he said. "We don't have the parts, nor do we have enough scrap to jury rig a replacement. If you can help fix the problem, I don't mind at all."

"Good." Molly said. "Ami and I will take a look at them in the morning and we'll put together a plan of action."

"Thank you, outsider." Pearl said.

"You're welcome." Molly said. "Now, you mind if I use you guys showers?" she asked. "I stink to high heaven after all that teaching your guys how to beat the shit out of people."

Pearl chuckled at Molly's statement and pointed off in the direction on the showers. "Go right ahead." she said. "Your purple haired is probably over there as well."

"Thanks." Molly said, and picked up her pack.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors Note: I got nothin', except that I know y'all are reading this thing. What do you think so far?


	16. Chapter 17

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_Yeah, yeah, my shit's fucked up  
>It has to happen to the best of us<br>The rich folks suffer like the rest of us  
>It'll happen to you <em> 

_My shit's fucked up_, by Warren Zevon.

Oo000oo000oO

"Help..."

Molly's eye's snapped open at the whimpered plea and her hand instinctively grabbed the butt of her N99. Not moving her head, she looked around using her eye's scanning for the threat.

"Noo..."

"_Sara._" Molly thought and lifted her head to look at the Khan.

She was thrashing underneath her blanket in the grip of a nightmare. Disentangling herself from her bedding and Ami, Molly got up and went over to her.

"Sara!" Molly said as she grabbed the thrashing girl's arms and shook her.

Sara woke up screaming and thrashing, trying her best to get away from the figure pinning her to the ground.

"SARA!" Molly repeated, shaking the girl again.

This time Molly got through to her and Sara froze, looking up at Molly with her eyes wide as dinner plates.

"You're safe." Molly said gently as she let go of Sara. "No one's gonna hurt you."

Sara blinked a couple of times and shivered. "Not when I sleep." she said.

"So I've noticed." Molly said as she sat back on her haunches. "You gonna be okay?"

Sara propped herself up on an elbow and ran a hand through her sweat slicked hair, not caring that she was without her vest. "As long as I don't fall asleep, yeah." she said and then rubbed her eye. "Cripes, I could use some Jet right now."

"That'll just make things worse." Molly commented.

Sara gave Molly a dark look. "Says you, fatass." she said. "You aren't fucked in the head like I am."

Molly smirked at the Khan. "Don't bet on it, kid." she said, and then got to her feet. "You want a drink or something?"

Sara looked around at their campsite and scowled. "Got any whiskey?" she asked.

"Yeah." Molly said as she headed for her pack. "I got a pint stashed somewhere in my pack."

"Thanks, Fatass.' Sara said.

Molly stopped and turned to look at Sara.

"What?" the girl asked.

"You said thank you." Molly pointed out. "My bad habits are rubbing off on you."

"Well, don't tell anyone." Sara grumbled. "Wouldn't want my rep to get ruined."

"God forbid _that_ should happen." Molly quipped.

Oo000oo000oO

Molly woke up an hour before dawn when her Pip-Boy's alarm went off on vibrate. Her eye's flicked open and she was treated to a view of the heavens as the first thing she saw. Automatically she began to pick out constellations, the first one being Orion the Hunter.

"_Morning Mr Orion."_ she thought to herself.

Lifting her head, she looked around at her surroundings. She was laying next to a campfire that was smoldering embers with a couple of blanket covered lumps lying nearby that were Boone and Sara.

Next to her Ami stirred in her sleep and she rolled over, disentangling herself from Molly. Molly smiled down at her purple haired friend and kissed her on the cheek, then got up. Spreading her blankets over Ami, she then went over to the fire and started coaxing it to life.

The fresh wood she piled on was just starting to catch fire when there was a masculine groan and the sound of a large body rolling over.

"Morning, Boone." Molly greeted her fellow sniper.

"Morning." Boone grunted.

"Gimme a few minutes and I'll have some coffee going." Molly said as the fire continued to build.

Boone grunted and stretched. "Hey." he said.

"Yeah?" Molly asked.

"What was going on with Sara?"

Molly sat back on her haunches, looked at the fire for a moment, then looked at Boone. "She was having a nightmare." she answered. "I think it was from when she was raped."

Boone nodded and looked over at the sleeping Khan. "What'd you give her?" he asked. "I heard something about Jet mixed in with your conversation."

"I gave her a couple of shots of whiskey." Molly said as she picked up the coffee pot. "I think it did the trick. She was out within the hour and seems to have slept pretty soundly."

"Good." Boone said. "You want to wake her up?"

Sara shook her head. "Nah, let her sleep." she said. "She needs it." she added. "Her and Ami."

Oo000oo000oO

Sara's nose twitched as the scents of frying beef and fresh coffee reached her nose, and her stomach immediately kicked her awake with a groan.

"Morning, Sleepyhead." Molly said as Sara propped herself up on her elbows.

Sara grunted and blew her hair out of her eyes. "Morning Fatass." she growled. "there had better be some fucking coffee or someone's getting shot."

"Right here." Molly said, tapping the coffee pot with her spatula. "Food's gonna be ready in a minute."

"Thanks." Sara said, sitting up fully.

Grabbing a plate, Molly dished Sara up some breakfast (fried Brahman, maize and peppers) along with a cup of coffee and took them over to her.

"Here you go." Molly said as she handed Sara her breakfast. "You might want to get your vest on, unless you _want_ to give Boone and Ami a show when they get back."

Sara looked down at her bare breasts and shrugged. "Whatever. Boone's seen tits before, and I know that the crazy bitch has seen your saggy tits." she said. "It's nothing they haven't seen before."

"true." Molly said. She had to admit, the Khan girl was right about that. "But what if one of the Boomers walks by? They aren't as... _liberated_ as we are."

"Like a guy is really gonna complain about free range titties." Sara said as she started eating.

Molly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're doing this just to be difficult, aren't you?" she asked.

Sara nodded, her mouth full of food.

Oo000oo000oO

"So what are we going to be doing again?" Ami asked as she once again found herself standing in front of the Boomers power station.

Molly took a drink from her canteen and put the cap back on it. "We're going to be going through the array and finding all the ones that need fixed, and then figuring out how much we're gonna need, _then_ figure out how to get them here." she explained.

"Oh." Ami said, and thought for a moment. "we'll probably need a Brahman." she said.

The corner of Molly's mouth quirked up into a smile. "Well, it's a good thing you grew up on a Brahman ranch, isn't it?" she asked, giving Ami a friendly swat on the ass.

Ami jumped with an 'eep' and looked at Molly. "Molly!" she squeaked. "We can't do that right now! We gotta get this done first!"

"Well, think of it as incentive." Molly said, cocking her hip out and running a finger under Ami's chin.

Ami blinked. She blinked again

"Let's get to work! We don't have all day!" she said as she grabbed Molly and yanked her towards the array.

"Ack!"

Oo000oo000oO

"You had another nightmare last night."

Sara looked over her shoulder and scowled at Boone. "Fatass told you about that?" she asked.

"You woke me up." Boone explained. "When you screamed."

"Oh." Sara said, looking forwards again. She was silent for a moment then spoke again. "What else did you hear?" she asked.

"Not much." Boone said. "After I was sure you were okay I went back to sleep."

"Oh. Good." Sara said.

They plodded on in silence for a couple of minutes before Boone spoke again. "This is the second time in the last three days that you've had that nightmare."

"What do you mean?" Sara asked. "How the hell do you know what I was dreaming about?"

"You said 'no' in your sleep." Boone said quietly. "Both times. And you were thrashing around as well."

Sara took in a deep breath and sighed. "You know, this really isn't important." she said in a slightly annoyed tone. "I get nightmares sometimes. Big deal."

"I would say otherwise." Boone observed.

Sara looked back over her shoulder at Boone, annoyance written all over her face. "If it's such a big deal, then why don't you tell me about why the fuck your wife ran off on ya!" she snapped.

Boone scowled and stopped dead for a moment. Sara stopped and turned around to face him.

"What?" she asked, holding her arms out.

Boone was silent for a for a couple of moments afterwards. "Her name was Carla." he said. "And she didn't run off on me. She was taken."

Sara stared at him for a few moments, then crossed her arms. "By who?" she asked.

Boone sighed and looked off into the distance for a moment. "Legion." he answered. "She was sold by... a _person._ Carla was not the most agreeable of people, and she rubbed some people the wrong way.

When she was taken, she was pregnant with our child."

Sara cocked her head to one side slightly. "What happened-"

"She died." Boone interrupted.

"You sure about that?" Sara asked.

Boone looked her in the eye. "Yes." he said. "I shot her. She was on the auction block."

Sara was silent for several moments as she stared at Boone, considering him. "One question: Why?" she asked. "Why'd you shoot her?"

"Because I know what the Legion would be like for her." Boone said. "Think of what happened to you, but a million times worse."

Sara nodded once. "Okay." she said and turned around. "Lets go. We got a long walk ahead of us. I'll tell you what happened."

Boone adjusted his pack and started following Sara.

"Like I said before, the first time I was thirteen, a week after my parents died." Sara began. "I had just laid down in my parents tent when Davis and his friends came in. They drunk and high, and were looking for some... _entertainment_."

Sara took a couple of deep breaths as she composed herself.

"They... passed me around. They laughed about it, thought it was funny. When they were done, as they were leaving Davis said they'd look me up again when they were bored.

That's why I was hiding in the supply caves. From them, when the attack started. When the shooting was over I went down and... well, you can guess the rest."

Sara took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Anyways, that's my story. Every now and then I... dream about it. It comes and goes." she said.

Boone grunted and they kept walking.

"We're fucked up, you know that?" Sara observed.

"Yeah." Boone said. "We are."

Oo000oo000oO

Sitting in the shade cast by one of the solar arrays, Molly perused the notes she had made while inspecting the arrays and compiled her figures. When she had them all added up, she looked at the totals and whistled.

"_No way in hell we'd be able to carry all of this- at least, not be able to and still be able to fight. We're gonna need a pack Brahman for this._" she thought, and then her gaze slid over to the purple haired figure who was curled up under the same patch of shade with her head resting on her backpack. "_Looks like I'll need to talk resident Brahman expert._"

"Ami, wake up." Molly said, poking the girl in the shoulder.

Ami mumbled something incoherent and rolled over. "Ami, _wake up!" _Molly repeated more forcefully, this time shaking the girl's shoulder.

"GAAAH! The butter's on fire!" Ami squawked as she came to.

"Huh?" Molly asked as she dodged some flailing limbs.

"This isn't the creamery." Ami said, looking around at the array.

"No, it's a solar array at Nellis AFB." Molly told her. "Flaming butter?" she asked.

"Accident that happened during dinner when I was twelve." Ami said with a wave of her hand. "My brother under churned the butter. What's going on?"

"I have _got_ to meet your family..." Molly muttered under her breath. "I just finished with the figures. We're gonna need a pack Brahman for this job."

"Oh." Ami said and sat up. "Lemme take a look at your figures."

Molly handed the pad she'd been using to Ami and she looked over what Molly had wrote. She made a face, compared the figures with her experience, and came up with an answer.

"We're gonna need one, maybe two Brahman." she said. "I'd suggest females, but bulls will do too."

"Male's can carry more." Molly pointed out. "So we'd only need the one, I figure."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, but if it's mad at you, which head do you sucker punch to get it to cooperate?"

"Ahhh... I don't know?" Molly said after a moments thought.

"Then in that case, pay the extra and go with cows." Ami said, stretching. "f you don't know what you're doing with a bull odds are you're going to end up gored, trampled, or both."

"Lovely." Molly said as she took back her note pad. "So, where are we gonna get some? The Crimson Caravan Company?" she asked.

Ami shook her head. "No." she said. "The last thing they're gonna do is sell Brahman to someone who could end up being a competitor to them. I'd suggest either the Gun Runners, or we could try the Grab n' Gulp."

"Gun Runners." Molly said. "I do business there a lot, and they always give me a good price."

"Okay." Ami said. "So now what do we do?"

Molly sighed and looked around at the desert surrounding them. "I don't know about you, but it's nice and cool right here, and there's nothing that can't wait until the sun starts going down and it cools off."

"Good idea." Ami said and started to dig around in her pack.

"What are you doing?" Molly asked as she grabbed her pack with the intention doing like Ami and use it as a pillow while she took a nap.

"Oh, I had an idea the other day and I was going to work on it." the purple haired girl said as she dug out a couple of belts and a roll of tools.

"Oh." Molly said as she took her hat off and lay down. "wake me up in a couple of hours, okay?" she asked as she put her hat over her eyes.

"Okay." Ami said as she unrolled her tools.

Oo000oo000oO

Boone and Sara reached the Crimson Caravan Company's compound in the middle of the afternoon and ran into their redhead immediately after they went through the gate.

"Hey." Janet greeted the pair as she came up to them. "What's the good news?" she asked.

"The elder said yes." Boone told her.

"Good." Janet said, relieved. "Now all I gotta do is perform a major miracle and get McLafferty to release me from my contract, and I'll be set."

"What?" Sara asked. "Contract?"

Janet nodded. "Yeah. I'm under contract with the Crimson Caravan. Basically, its an agreement that says that in exchange for working for them for a set period of time, they agree to pay me a specified amount."

"Oh." Sara said, then she frowned. "So what's the problem?" she asked.

"I'm gonna be asking to be let out of my contract early." Janet explained. "She's not gonna want to pay up what I'm owed. Breaking the contract and all."

"That's a pretty shitty thing to do to someone who risked their ass for them." Sara commented.

"Tell that to McLafferty." Janet said with a resigned sigh. "Not that it'd do a bit of good. She's many things, but nice isn't one of them."

"Good for her." Sara said. "So, how long is this gonna take?" she asked.

"Not long." Janet answered. "I walk in there, ask her, she say's no, and I'm on my way."

"Good." Sara said. "I want to get this cluster fuck over with."

"Wait a minute." Boone said. "This isn't right."

"Oh, for the love of-!" Sara complained with a roll of her eyes. "Boone, you can't be serious."

"I am, Sara." Boone answered. "This isn't right, and I want to fix it."

"Cripes, and I thought Fatass was bad..." Sara griped.

Boone ignored Sara's last complaint and focused his attention on Janet instead. "So, where do we find her?" he asked.

"McLafferty?" asked Janet. "Over there, in the admin building." she said, pointing at one of the bunkhouses. "Thank you fro trying, but it's a hopeless cause. She's got a heart of stone."

"I have to try." Boone said, and started walking towards the admin building. "Come on, Sara."

"Gorramit, Boone, do we have to?" Sara bitched as she started following.

"Yes."

"Fuuuck..."

Oo000oo000oO

Alice McLafferty was an old, hard faced woman with silver hair and exuding all the personal charm of a Nightstalker. So when the two wanderers who had been talking to her Boomer -infatuated employees came to be standing in front of her desk, she was _less_ than impressed.

She was, however, more than a little curious as to how a Khan girl ended up running around with a first Recon veteran. But that was immaterial for the moment.

"Hello there." she said pleasantly. She might be a ruthless, calculating, and _cold_ business woman, but that didn't mean she was without manners. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Craig Boone, and she's Sara." the man began by introducing themselves. "We're here on behalf of one of your employees..."

Alice nodded. "Yes, Janet." she said. "I've heard about her Boomer infatuation. And I know why she sent you two, and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay her. She's breaking her contract. Period."

The Khan girl- Sara- snorted derisively when she said that and Alice focused on her. "You have a problem with that?" she asked.

"No." the tribal girl said. "I just can't see why she's so scared of you."

"_Excuse_ me?" Alice asked, not sure if she had heard the girl correctly.

"I said..." the girl began, stepping past Boone "I can't see why she's afraid of a dried up old _cunt_ like you."

Alice's eyes narrowed and a steely glint came into them as Boone groaned. "You are treading some dangerous ground-"

"Shove it, you old bitch." Sara cut her off. "And don't go making threats to me you can't back up personally. You got no calluses on your hands, your guard over there by the door is sitting on his ass with his hands empty, and you've got no weapon in easy reach." she added, planting both hands on Alice's desk and leaning forward. "So like I said, you... ain't..._shit_."

McLafferty leaned back in her chair, an outraged expression on her face. By the door the guard began to stir, but Boone held up a hand in a calming gesture.

"Settle down." he told the man. "If she was going to do something violent, she would have started shooting by now."

Sara smirked at the glare that Alice was giving her. "You got that right. This old crone _pays_ people to do that sort of thing." she said contemptuously. "Doing it herself, the poor dear might _break a nail_."

"You have a _lot_ of nerve." McLafferty observed, clamping down on her temper. "To come in here and say things like that."

"It's the truth." Sara said, still not giving up her intrusion into Mclafferty's personal space. "You want to try and prove me wrong?"

A muscle twitched in Mclafferty's jaw, but she held her cool. "No." she said curtly.

Sara snickered. "I knew it." she said. "So, here's the deal. You pay the ginger the money she's owed, and I keep my trap shut on how a little Khan girl pointed out just how weak you are. Deal?"

Alice stared at the tribal for several long seconds, not quite believing that a flea bitten savage had just managed to neatly maneuver her into a blackmail trap, and yet admiring the girl's skill in doing so.

In the end, practicality won out, and so she chose to save her reputation. "We have a deal." she said tightly, and reached for a desk drawer. "Let me count out her caps."

Sara stood back and smirked as Alice counted out Janet's current pay.

"_Keep smirking, you little savage."_ Alice thought. _"The Van Graff's will be all to happy to take of you for me..."_

"Here you go." she said, handing over the the caps in a small cloth bag to Sara. "Have a nice day." 

Sara's smirk turned into a grin. "You too." she said. "By the way," she added in a low voice so only she could hear "Don't try any shit with me later on. You will pay for it _personally_, got it?"

"I wouldn't dream of it" Alice said.

"Good."

Oo000oo000oO

Janet looked up as Sara and Boone came walking up to er.

"So, what'd she say to you?" she asked.

"Yes." Sara said, and tossed a small bag to Janet. "Here. Now lets get the fuck out of here."

Surprised, Janet almost didn't catch the bag. "What- _how_?" she asked.

"Long story." Boone said before Sara could say anything. "Do you have your gear together?" he asked.

"Yeah." Janet said, nodding at a pack that was sitting by the fence.

"Good." Boone said. "The sooner we get going, the better."

"Oh boy." Janet said as she hurried over to her pack.

Grabbing her pack, Janet hoisted it on her shoulders and they set out, leaving the Crimson Caravan behind as Janet headed for a new life with the Boomers.

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Author's Note: Hooo boy, Sara really knows how to make an impression on


	17. Chapter 18

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

"_Man, I wish I had some Jet right about now."_

Sitting in a lawn chair on top of the building that she and Boone had found, Sara yawned and continued serving her watch. Boone and the soon-to-be-a-Boomer Janet lay sleeping behind her, and all around them nothing moved in the ruins of the Las Vegas suburbs.

All in all, it was absolutely _fucking_ boring.

"_Wish there was something I could shoot. At least it'd help keep me awake." _she thought with a frown.

Setting her varmint rifle in her lap, Sara was reaching for her canteen when she heard the scrape of a foot right behind her. Instantly, she had her rifle up, shouldered, and she had whipped around to face whoever was behind her.

That person was Janet.

"H-h-hi." Janet said, her eyes wide and focused on the muzzle of Sara's rifle. "Don't shoot."

"Oh." Sara said. "It's you."

Lowering her rifle Sara sat back into her chair and reached for her canteen again. "What the fuck do you want? Your turn for watch isn't for another couple of hours."

Janet swallowed nervously. "I- I have a question." she asked.

"'Bout what?" Sara asked as she scanned the ruins.

"Just what did you say to MacLafferty?" asked Janet.

Sara smirked as she recalled the conversation she'd had with the head of the Crimson Caravan Company's New Vegas branch. "I told her the truth." she said.

"Which was?" Janet probed.

"I told her that she was a washed up, dried out, _weak_, old bitch." Sara told her.

Janet made a strangled gurgling sound. "She... she's gonna have you _killed..._"

"She can _try_." Sara said with another smirk. "But if she does, she'll regret it."

"You're gonna try to fight the Crimson Caravan all by yourself?" Janet asked incredulously.

"No." Sara said. "I'm gonna fight _her_. There's a difference."

"But she's a high up in the Caravan! You might as well be." Janet pointed out.

Sara turned around to face the ex-caravaneer. "She might bring the Caravan to the fight, but I'm gonna be fighting _her_. As in personally." she explained. "She wants a fight, it's gonna be between me and her."

Janet frowned at Sara. "So how are you gonna do that?" she asked.

Sara grinned at Janet, her teeth sparkling in the starlight. "I'm a Khan." she said. "We do all sorts of shit that we shouldn't be able to."

Janet sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Good luck." she said. "You're gonna need it."

Sara snorted in amusement. "Worry about her." she said. "I'll be fine."

Oo000oo000oO

"Hey there."

Raquel jumped when she heard the outsider's voice right behind her -_again_. Growling in irritation, she turned around to confront the woman.

"How did you do that?" she demanded.

"Sneak up on you?" the woman asked.

"Yes!" Raquel hissed. "I had a view of the ramp! There is no _way_ you could have snuck up on me with out a Stealth Boy!"

The outsider snickered and looked out over towards the gates of Nellis. "It's easy." she said. "I didn't come up the ramp."

"What?" Raquel asked.

The outsider pointed to the rear of Raquel's viewing platform. "You were'nt looking behind you." she explained. "So, I climbed up behind you."

"That's impossible." Raquel said flatly. "I would have heard you."

The outsider glanced at her with an eyebrow arched. "Really?" she asked. "So I guess my startling you a second ago didn't happen then?"

Grinding her molars as she suppressed her rage at the woman, Raquel turned her gaze to the gates of Nellis. "Is there a reason why you're here, or do you just like tormenting me?"

"Actually, I ran into Pearl and she asked me if I could show you any pointers, so I headed over here." the outsider explained.

Raquel gave her a murderous stare. "Are you saying that I can't do my job?" she asked quietly.

"No." the infuriating woman replied. "What I'm saying is that everybody has room for improvement. And lets face it, I've snuck up you twice already. You need to be more aware of your situation."

For a brief moment, Raquel considered shooting the outsider, but then the little voice in the back of her skull pointed out that Pearl had _asked_ the outsider to come and show her, so it'd probably be a good idea to listen.

Clamping down on her rage, she smothered it before it get out of hand and took a deep breath.

"Okay then." she said, exhaling. "Say what you have to say, outsider."

"Well, first of all, be more observant. Just because you're watching the gate doesn't mean you should be ignoring your rear." the outsider began. "Second, you need a better observation point."

"How so?" Raquel asked grimly.

"Your'e the Sargent at Arms, right?" the outsider asked. "What happens if you get popped by a sniper?"

"Unlikely." Raquel answered. "We would spot an intruder before he could get into range."

The outsider snickered tapped her on the shoulder. "Bull." she said. "My party and I were here a full day before I snuck in here." she added. "We sheltered on the defilade of that ridge there."

Raquel glanced over to where the outsider was pointing at a point on a ridge that was a mile distant. "A rocket launcher is about the only thing that can reach this position from there." she pointed out. "And at that range, it's accuracy is nonexistent."

"Did yo see that large rifle that Boone was carrying?" asked the outsider.

Raquel nodded. She remembered the man, he had a beret on, didn't talk much. "Yes." she said.

"That's an anti-material rifle." the outsider explained. "We could have nailed you at any time if we wanted."

Raquel scowled and stared out over the Mojave for several moments.

"I hate you, you know that?" she growled.

Molly grinned and sat down. "Yeah, but you'll love me eventually." she said as she took out her canteen.

"I doubt it."

Oo000oo000oO

As they neared the road to Nellis Janet noticed that Sara was giving the two Wastelanders sitting by a fire nearby the stinkeye. Boone noticed it too, and gave the Khan girl a nudge with his elbow.

"What's going on?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't like the look one of em's giving us." Sara answered as she kept an eye on them.

Boone gave the two the once over. For the most part they looked mostly harmless, just two women, armed with knives for what he could see. But they did have haggard, drawn faces, and they had a look of desperation in their faces.

"They look like chem users." Boone commented. "No guns that I can see."

"They are chemheads." Sara corrected him. "And they so much as twitch, I'm shooting the motherfuckers."

"Why?" Janet asked, inserting herself into the conversation. "They can't do shit to us. All they've got are knives, and we have guns."

Sara's eye's narrowed as they edged closer to the Wastelanders. "And desperation." she said. "When you're desperate, you'd be surprised what you'd do. Trust me on this." she added as she unslung her varmint rifle.

As they reached the closest that they were going to get, the one that had been watching them saw Sara unsling her rifle grabbed her knife and rolled to her feet.

"Hey!" she yelled, drawing her knife. "You want some of this?"

Boone and Janet drew their weapons as the other Wastelander drew hers and got to her feet.

"We're not looking for trouble!" Boone yelled back at them. "Just stay where you are and don't make any sudden moves, and we'll be fine..."

"Hey!" the first Wastelander yelled, focusing on Sara and stepping forward as she brandished her knife.

Sara's response was to fire her rifle, the crack of the .223 echoing in the mid afternoon stillness of the Mojave. The Wastelander gaped in the purest astonishment for a couple of times, then she fell forward. As Sara worked the bolt on her rifle, the second Wastelander looked at her friend, screamed, and lunged forward at them, knife held high.

Janet and Boone fired almost simultaneously, the enraged Wastelander dieing instantly from getting shot in the chest by a 147 grain boat tail soft point and a 1oz slug from the lower barrel of Janet's shotgun.

The second Wastelander hit the dirt as she finished racking the bolt on her rifle, and she looked at the body laying in a cloud of dust.

"Well, she's dead." Sara said, then slung her rifle. "Oh, well, time to roll the bodies."

Boone sighed in irritation and lowered his rifle.

Sara looked over at Boone. "What?" she asked. "You warned them."

"She's right, you know." Janet added. "You _did_ give them fair warning."

"It's not that." he said as Sara casually walked over to the second Wastelander. "It's the willingness to loot." he added as she started rifling the woman's pocket.

"Oh." Janet said, then thought for a moment. "Well, she _is_ a Khan, after all." she pointed out. "It is her nature."

"Yeah." Boone said. "Her nature."

Oo000oo000oO

"Are you staring at my ass?"

Molly smirked and took a drink from her canteen. "Yes." she answered. "You should be flattered. You've got a _great_ ass."

Raquel turned around and looked down at Molly, giving her the fiercest scowl she was capable of. "What you're suggesting is sick, immoral, and wrong." she said, her tone practically leaving a rime of frost on their immediate surroundings.

"_Knife to the ribs, if I ever get the chance._" Molly thought as a cheeky grin spread across her face. "What?" she asked "I'm saying that you look good. Ask _any_ guy here and he'd say the same thing- unless he was a leg or tit's man."

"I am the Sargent at Arms!" protested Raquel. 'I must-"

"I know." Molly said, picking up her binoculars and scanning the horizon. "But that doesn't mean you have to live your life alone, you know."

"My personal life is none of your business." Raquel snapped. "Mother Pearl asked you to help with our defenses, _not_ be a gorramaned psychiatrist!"

Molly snickered slightly at Raquel's riposte. "Actually, in a way, it is." she pointed out.

"How so?"

Molly smirked again and adjusted her sitting position before responding. "Your personal life affects your professional, and vice versa." she explained. "Your point man gets a dear John letter, and his focus gets shot all to hell, and he misses seeing that Fiend ambush until it's too late.

Conversely, if you get yourself a sweetie, you're happy, and then all of a sudden, you're able to do your job more effectively."

Raquel was silent for a few moments before she responded. "You're really fucking annoying, you know that?" she asked.

Molly laughed and leaned forwards as something in the distance caught her attention. "Yeah, but I'm still right." she said "And it looks like my friends are here, so I'm gonna have to cut this conversation short."

"Thank God." Raquel said as Molly got to her feet.

"Think about what I said." Molly said as she started to walk down the ramp.

Raquel merely growled in reply.

Oo000oo000oO

"So this is Nellis." Janet said as they passed through the gate.

"Yep." Boone grunted.

"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice shouted off in the distance.

"Who's that?" Janet asked, pointing towards a figure loping towards them. "She a friend of yours?"

"Yeah.'' Boone grunted in reply.

"That's Fatass." Sara said, adding her two cents in.

Janet glanced at Sara for a second, then at Boone. "What's-" she started to ask.

"Molly." answered Boone. "Her name's Molly."

"Or like I prefer, Fatass." Sara added.

"What was that about ass?" Molly asked as she jogged up to them.

"We were talking about how massive it was." Sara told her.

"It's not fat, it's well shaped." Molly informed Sara, twisting her hips and slapping one of her cheeks. "Sorta like how yours will be when you finish filling out."

Sara spluttered in embarrassed indignation as Molly turned her attention to Janet. "And _you _must be Jack's new girl." she said, running an appreciative eye up and down Janet's form.

Janet took half a step back and held up her hands. "Whoa, hold on there." she said. "I don't swing that way..."

Molly shrugged. "It's okay." she said. "I was just looking."

"Ah, okay?" Janet asked, somewhat confusedly.

"Anyways, your boy's over in that hangar over there." Molly said, pointing at the closer of the two hangers looming off in the distance.

"Oh. Thank you." Janet said, somewhat confused and yet thankful by the change of topic.

Molly smirked and leaned in close to Janet. "Don't thank me just yet." she whispered conspiratorially to her. "Wait till you get a good look at his butt."

"Okay- wait a minute. What were doing looking at his butt?" Janet said, a scowl coming across her face.

Molly shrugged again. "Looking at his butt." she said "It's a nice butt. He's just a little too light colored for me. I like dark haired guys myself."

"Oh." Janet said.

"I like blond guys myself." Sara commented.

"Oh, so _that's_ why you are following Boone around..." Molly teased.

"..."

Sara gaped for a few moments as she tried to say something but nothing came out. Defeated, Sara looked at the ground as she turned red as a beet.

"Huh. I don't believe it." Molly said as Sara studiously avoided looking at her and Boone in particular. "She's speechless. This has gotta be a first."

Boone looked at the thoroughly embarrassed Sara and figured that anything that he could say would make it worse, so he said nothing.

Molly, on the other hand, wasn't operating under any such restrictions.

"Anyways, let's get Red here over to her introduced to her new guy." Molly said. "Sara, lead the way." she added, giving her a swat on the ass.

Sara mumbled something and started walking towards the hanger.

Oo000oo000oO

Hours later, after getting the two lovebirds untied and receiving the everlasting thanks of Jack and Janet, Molly and her companions gathered around a campfire

"Are you okay?" Ami asked Sara as she stirred the stew.

"I'm okay..." Sara mumbled, staring hard at toes of her boots.

"We had an interesting conversation earlier." Molly informed her.

"About what?" Ami asked.

Molly frowned for a moment as she considered the best way to put it. "I kind of teased Sara about her and Boone earlier."

Ami frowned at Molly as she set the spoon she was using to one side. "Why'd you do that?" she asked. "I think she and Boone would be perfect for each other."

At Ami's mention of that Sara just shrank into herself and covered her head with her arms.

"Oh God, why me?" she moaned.

"I'm serious!" insisted Ami. "I'm not talking about being boyfriend and girlfriend. I meant that you two make great partners."

Sara lifted her head and looked up at Ami. "What are you talking about, Crazy Bitch?"

"I said, you two make good partners." Ami explained. "If you later decide to hook up, that's okay, but you two make good partners."

Sara stared at the purple haired girl for several long seconds. "You're crazy, you know that?" she asked.

"No, she's a spaz." Molly interjected. "She is many things, but crazy is not one of them. Which reminds me- we're gonna have to make a run Helios One.''

"Hey, that rhymes."Ami commented as she stirred the stew again.

"Yes, it does." Molly acknowledged. "Anyways, as I was saying, we need to go there."

"Why?" Sara asked. "It's crawling with NCR."

"Because it has solar panels, and we need spare parts to fix the panels here." Molly explained.

Sara's face brightened when Molly said that. "So we're gonna rip them off?" she asked.

Molly shook her head. "No." she answered. "What we're gonna do is go there and see if they hav any damaged one's that we can salvage for parts."

"Oh. Fuck, that sounds boring.' Sara said and flopped back onto her bedroll.

"Hopefully, it is." Molly said. "I any case, we're gonna need to get a Brahman to carry all the stuff we're gonna need, and that's where we're going to need Ami's expertise."

Sara propped herself up onto her elbows. "We're getting a Brahman?" she asked. "So what do need s for?"

"Firepower." Molly explained. "We're gonna be taking a loaded pack Brahman through areas infested with Raiders and Fiends."

"Not to mention Legion." Ami added, getting an affirming grunt from Boone.

"Yeah." Molly said with a nod. "Which brings me to another point." she added, turning her attention to Sara. "You're gonna have to change when we get there."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because the troops guarding the site will shoot you on sight." Boone explained. "And us too."

"Oh." Sara said and flopped back down onto her bedroll.

"Anyways." Molly said. "We can get you some new clothes when we go through New Vegas. We should be okay if you keep your mouth shut and be nice, right?"

Sara grunted and made a waving motion with her hand.

"I said, _right,_ Sara?" Molly repeated.

Sara lifted her head again and gave Molly a glare. "I heard you the first time, Fatass." she snapped. "Don't worry, I can keep my trap shut, no matter how much a fuckstick deserves it."

"Good. I'd hate to have to fight my way out of an NCR outpost because of a misunderstanding." Molly said.

Sara flipped her off and rolled over onto her side.

"Wake me up when dinner's ready." she told Boone.

Oo000oo000oO

"Sara, wake up."

Sara cracked open an eye and stared murderously at the eastern horizon where dawn was beginning to show it's first vibrant hues.

"It is way too gorramed early for this." she muttered, pushing herself up onto her elbow.

"I know." Molly said. "But we got a long way to go and a lot of things to do. Breakfast?"

Sara squinted up in the crappy half light at the bowl of reheated leftover stew and cup of coffee that Molly was holding out and sat all the way up, taking care to make sure her chest was covered by her blanket.

"I know what your tit's look like, you know." Molly said as she handed Sara her breakfast.

"Yeah, but it's cold." Sara said before digging in. She wolfed down a few mouthfuls, then looked to her left and saw that Boone's spot was empty, his bedroll rolled up and lashed to his pack.

"Where's Boone?" Sara asked around a mouthful of stew.

"He went off to take a piss, and Ami's off running a quick errand." Molly told her.

Sara looked around and saw that the purple haired girl was indeed gone as well. She shrugged and continued to wolf down her breakfast.

"You never met food you didn't like, have you?" Molly asked.

Sara shook her head and took a gulp of coffee. "Nope." she said. "When you've starved, you learn to eat quick and not get too picky."

Molly nodded as the Khan continued to eat. "By the way, sorry for making you uncomfortable last night." she said.

Sara paused in her eating and looked up at Molly. "It happens." she said with a shrug. "Not the worst thing that's happened to me."

Molly nodded and poured herself another cup of coffee. "Yeah, but it was still out of line."

Sara arched an eyebrow and looked at Molly. "Did Crazy Bitch get on you or something?" she asked.

Molly shook her head. "No. Boone did." she answered. "Actually, he didn't get on me. He just pointed out that I should apologize for what I had said."

"And so did what he said?" asked Sara, her tone suggesting that it was a foreign concept to her.

"Yeah.' Molly told her. "I respect him, and so I did."

"Huh." Sara said, and dug back into her stew.

It didn't take long for Sara to finish off her breakfast, and she and Molly cleaned their dishes. They finished up just as Boone and Ami arrived one after the other.

"Hey, Boone." Sara greeted the sniper.

"Sara." Boone returned and grabbed his pack. "We ready to go?" he asked Molly.

"I am." Molly said, and then looked at Ami and Sara. "How about you guys?" she asked.

"I'm good." Sara said, knotting the last tie on her pack.

"I'm ready." Ami said, hoisting her pack.

"Okay then." Molly said, picking up her rifle. "Let's head out. We got a long day ahead of us."

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Authors note: I got nothing right now, other than please review. I'd like to get your feedback on how I'm doing.


	18. Chapter 19

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_They say a tall dark stranger is a demon and that a devil rides closely by his side  
>With no warning he can strike like the thief in the night<br>Then jump up on his pony and ride ride ride _

Buck Owens, _Tall Dark Stranger_

Oo000oo000oO

Inside of the relatively cooler interior of Mick and Ralph's Ami was amusing herself by poking through the wares on display while Molly and Sara assembled Sara's disguise.

"These things are at least two sizes too big." Molly said, holding up the fatigue pants that Sara had selected.

"Yeah, but you ain't paying for it, Fatass." Sara said as she held up a tank top to herself. "A little long, but I can make it work." she muttered to herself.

"True, but the idea is to make them think that you're_ not_ a member of the Great Khans." Molly pointed out.

"I am." Sara told her. "I'm just doing what you did." she added. "I'm going for the dumb bimbo look."

"With this?" Molly asked, holding up the pants.

"You'll see." Sara reassured her. "It'll work."

"Okay..." Molly said.

Sara grabbed a belt and threw it over her shoulders, then picked up a combat boot that was lying on a shelf and checked it's size by holding it up to her foot and putting the soles together. Seeing that it was her size, Sara grabbed it's companion off the shelf and headed up to the front.

"Hey, I found the stuff I want to buy." she told Mick, dropping her items onto the counter.

Mick took a moment to tally up the cost of her purchases. "Okay.'' he said. "This'll come to fifty caps, but since you- ah, since you're with Molly there, I'll knock it down to thirty."

Sara cocked her head to one side and gave Mick a look. "Why" she asked, suspicion coloring her tone. "Is this because I sucked you off that one time for some Cram?"

Mick swallowed nervously as Molly and Ami both narrowed their eyes at him. "Ahh... no, not that." he said hastily. "Ah, Francine at the Atomic Wrangler sent word that she wanted Molly and her friends get the Wrangler discount, and since the Garret's are our best customers..."

"Oh." Sara said, giving Molly a look. "Okay. You got a deal." she added and reached for her pouch.

Sara counted out the requisite amount of caps, after having to use her fingers twice an after she was done Mick deposited the caps into the register as Sara scooped up her purchases.

"Hey, Sara, why don't you run ahead and go get changed?" Molly said, tapping the girl on the shoulder. "Ami and I are gonna grab some essentials."

"Whatever, Fatass.'' Sara said before turning on heel and striding out the door.

Sara and Ami watched her go, then when she was safely outside turned to face Mick.

"You had her turn tricks?" Molly said quietly, leaning forward and put her hands on the counter.

'Hey, she was hungry and I had the Cram." Mick said defensively. "It happens a hundred times day here in Freeside."

"Not to her, not anymore." Molly said, her voice flat.

Mick looked up into her eyes and was chilled to the core by what he saw, for he was looking Death in the face.

"O-okay..." Mick said, swallowing nervously.

"And the only reason why you're not dead already is because you're one of Francine's suppliers, and she's a friend of mine." Molly continued. "And if I _ever_ hear of you doing something like this again, they'll be finding pieces of you all over Freeside, got it?" she asked.

Mick nodded. "Yeah..." she said.

"Good." Molly said. "Ami, let's get out of here."

"Right behind ya." Ami said.

Oo000oo000oO

"That didn't take long." Sara said as Molly and Ami left Mick and Ralph's.

"Turns out he didn't have what we were looking for." Molly said.

"A dick of your very own?" Sara quipped.

"Shaddup." Molly shot back. "Anyways, how about we all go and get a drink?"

"Now _that's_ an idea of yours I actually like, Fatass." Sara said, shouldering her pack having stuffed her purchases in it. "Lets get going. The sooner I get drunk the easier it'll be for me to look at your massive ass."

"It's not that big." Ami pointed out. "Now, my Aunt Penelope, _she_ has a giant ass." she added, holding her hands about a yard apart.

"Fucking hell, that's almost as big as hers." Sara said, jerking a thumb at Molly.

Molly snickered as a thought struck her. "Hey, Sara." she said.

"What, Fatass?" Sara asked.

"You seem to have an obsession with my butt." Molly pointed out. "Like you... _want_ it."

"EEEEeeew!" Sara said, cringing in horror as she hid behind Boone. "Boone's the kind of guy I'd like to fuck, not you!"

It was funny, Molly thought, watching the reaction on Sara and Boone's face's as just _what_ Sara had said registered.

"I-ah-uhhh -aahhhh-" Sara stammered as she began to blush a deep red.

Boone for his part, said nothing. But he was doing his level best to _not_ look at Sara, and he was going a little pink around the edges.

"Well, Boone's a pretty good choice."Ami pointed out. "He's not my type, but I think that you two would be great together."

"Could we just get going and get a fucking drink already?" Sara said, stomping past Boone and down the street.

Molly sighed as she watched Sara stomp off. "Hey, Kid." she called after her. "Stick with the group."

Sara turned and started to yell something when Molly saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. Her hand grabbed the butt of her pistol as a figure bolted out of the ruins of a building and tackled Sara.

Time slowed as Molly drew her gun. To her left, two more figures came lunging out of the ruins, hot on the heels of the first figure, crude weapons up as Sara and the first figure went crashing to the street. Molly brought her pistol up, off hand steadying the weapon and her feet shifted into a steadier position as the sights settled in on the closer one of the two heading at her.

She felt her weapon kick, like a gentle push, and the lead thug's head exploded. With a twitch, she shifted her aim and shot the second one in the head, then pivoted on her heel and brought her weapon to bear on where Sara was.

She hesitated, finger tensing ever so slightly on the trigger, seeing that Sara had clamped her teeth on the man's neck.

Sara jerked her head back and time snapped back like a rubber band, the thug jerking back and toppling over, a jet of red erupting from his neck as he screamed. When he hit the ground Molly raised her pistol and shot him in the head, stilling him instantly.

"You okay?" Molly asked Sara as she brought her pistol up and covered the doorway where the thugs had come from.

Sara spit out a chunk of flesh and looked at the corpse lying at her feet.

"You know, he was already dead." she pointed out, wiping her mouth with her forearm.

"And?" Molly asked.

"You didn't have to shoot him, Fatass." Sara said as she got up. "Waste of a bullet."

Satisfied that that no one else was going to come screaming out of the building at them, Molly holstered her pistol and turned to Sara.

"Fuck!" was the first thing that came to Molly's mind when she got a look at Sara's face.

"What?" Sara asked.

"You're covered in blood." Molly said. "You look like a gorramed cannibal."

Sara touched her face and looked at her fingers when they came away red. "Good." she said. "maybe people will leave me the fuck alone then."

"I'm sure they will." Molly said. "You can clean up when we get to the Wrangler. There's no way in hell Francine's gonna let you sit at her bar looking like that."

"Gorramit..."

Oo000oo000oO

Boone sat down at the group's table at the Atomic Wrangler and took a sip of his drink. He characteristically silent, staying out of the rather animated conversation Molly and Ami were having about Brahman. Sara was missing, currently cleaning up in the corner room that he and Molly had earned the use of.

His mind, on the other hand, was far from idle.

"_Okay, Craig, just how the hell does she _do _that?"_ Boone thought, his eyes flicking over his glass to his blue haired companion. _"That's the second time she's done that kind of pistol shooting. _Where_ did she learn to do that? If she was that good with a handgun, they would have stuck her in the Rangers, not First Recon."_

It was the attack by Freesiders that had his mind occupied. Specifically, it was how Molly had handled it. In one fluid motion, Molly had drawn her gun, shot two men in the head, and shifted her aim to cover the third. Now while there were certainly men and women out there who could do that- Boone had drank with a couple of them- they sure as hell couldn't have did it as _fast_ as Molly had.

Molly had did the previously described actions in the space of an eye blink. No one could move that fast, Boone was sure of it. And it was one more thing that pointed to her background being something _other_ than First Recon, something she was keeping under wraps.

"Hey, look at that." Molly said, nudging Boone in the ribs and pointing.

Shaken from his contemplation, Boone blinked and followed Molly's finger. She was pointing at Sara, who was walking down the stairs, having cleaned up and changed clothes, in this case the merc gear she had just purchased.

Her pants were baggy on her, and hung some what low on her hips, and she had cropped the tank top so where it came down just above where her ribcage started. And when she turned to go to the bar, Boone could see that even in the crappy light of the bar that the tank was thin and kind of thread bare- and that she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Nice, huh?" Molly asked him in a low voice. "You think the garrison at Poseidon will suspect she's a Khan?"

Boone made a show of thinking it over as Sara walked up to the bar, where a weather beaten older man in armor was sitting at the bar having a soda.

"Move it, ya old fuck." Sara said, elbowing the man in the ribs.

"Never mind." Molly said, pushing her chair back. "Excuse me. I gotta go save her from getting killed again..."

The man turned slightly on his stool and gave Sara a nasty look, an action that did not go unnoticed by the Khan.

"You got a problem old man?" she said tauntingly.

The man narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down. "Yeah, I got a problem with you." he said. I got a problem with your bitch attitude, your bitch clothes, and your bitch face." he growled. "You got that, bitch?"

Sara's eyes widened when the man said that, and there was a hush in the general area. Then Sara's face twisted up into a snarl, and her right hand came up, pipe in hand, aimed straight at his head.

It never connected. Molly saw as the man reached up, grabbing Sara's arm by the wrist and twisting it backwards as his other hand came up and grabbed her by the throat. Slipping off his bar stool, he twisted his body so she was spun around and slammed into the bar itself, her free hand now opposite of the man and thus unable to strike at him.

"Wrong move, kid." the man said to Sara, pushing with the hand holding her by the throat so she was slowly being bent backwards over the bar.

"I agree."

The man froze as he felt the muzzle of a gun being placed against his head, just behind his left ear.

"However, she's just a kid and probably doesn't know an Arizona Ranger when she see's one, does she?" Molly asked conversationally.

Without letting go of Sara, the man looked over his shoulder at Molly. "You know your shit." he said. "You an ex NCR ranger or something?"

"First Recon." Molly said. "And you mind letting go of her? Francine would _kill_ me if I splattered your brains all over her bar."

"Your friend here tried to cave my skull in." the man said. "I'm not especially inclined to do that. She seems to be on the stupid side." he added, getting a growl from Sara.

Molly chuckled. "No, she's just stubborn.'' she said. "On that note, Ami, get your butt over here."

"Yeah, Molly?" the purple haired girl said when got up to where the Mexican standoff was occurring.

"Grab hold of Sara, would you?" asked Molly, nodding at the Khan. "This guy doesn't want her to cave his head in."

"Oh." Ami said, then glanced at the man. "Sorry about this. Normally she's a lot more sulky than this."

"Not a problem." the man said. "She's not much of a threat." he added as Sara let loose a snarl.

The purple haired girl nodded and took control of Sara, telling her "Come on, let's go have a drink and get you calmed down."

"Fuck you!"

"Now, that's not nice..."

"Let go of me you crazy bitch!"

Oo000oo000oO

The stranger and Molly watched as Ami drug Sara away, then Molly sighed, holstered her pistol, and turned to look at the stranger.

"So." she said, putting her hands on her hips "Again, sorry about that."

"Jäeger." the man said, taking her hand and giving it a shake.

"No surname?" Molly asked.

The man shrugged. "No parents." he said.

"Ah."

Molly waved at Francine and she wandered over to where she and Jäeger were.

"You guys get everything worked out?" Francine asked.

"Yeah." Molly said. "Hey, give this guy another of whatever he was drinking, another round for my table, and a bottle of vodka."

Francine's eyebrow arched up towards her hairline. "What's the vodka for?" she asked.

"The Queen of the Khan's." Molly explained, jerking her thumb over shoulder, where Ami had Sara in a headlock, much to the amusement of the other patrons of the Atomic Wrangler.

Francine studied the snarling, cursing, flailing, Khan, then gave Molly a questioning look. "You want to give a short fused hothead like her _booze_?"

Molly snickered and leaned forwards on the bar. "She's a lightweight. A few shots, and she'll be out like a light."

Francine thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Okay." she said. "But she pukes, _you're_ cleaning it up."

"Fair enough." Molly said and stepped back from the bar.

"You know her?" asked Jäeger as Francine went off to fill Molly's order.

Molly nodded. "Yeah. Me, her, and her brother go way back."

"Ah."

Oo000oo000oO

Morning came, and Molly rose with the sun and began collecting he team. She began by prying Ami off of her and getting her up and awake, thanked Fisto for his services, and sent him out the door with a swat on the rear from Ami.

She then went to the room next door where Boone and Sara were, and got them up. Boone was fairly easy wake up. Sara, on the other hand, wasn't. She was sprawled out on the bed, naked and covered by a blanket, her clothes and boots lying in a pile next to the bed. This got Boone a questioning look from Molly.

"She was clothed when I dumped her on the bed." Boone said. "She must have stripped after I went to sleep."

Molly nodded and poked Sara in the ankle. "Hey, wake up." she said.

Sara didn't react other than to start snoring. Molly frowned and tried again, this time with more force. Again, there was no result.

"Okay." Molly said, putting her hands on her hips. "Plan B."

"Huh?" asked Boone.

"Plan B." Molly repeated. "B as in bucket."

"Oh."

The bucketful of water did the trick. Sara was up and swinging, her pipe in wide arcs as she screamed in water soaked rage.

"Morning, sunshine." Molly said, having leaped back to a safe distance.

Sara froze in mid-swing, then slowly turned around to face Molly. "What. The. _FUCK_?" she said, her volume rising with every word.

"It's time to wake up." Molly said.

Sara glared at Molly and wiped the wet hair out of her face. "So you dumped a fucking bucket of water on me?" she snarled.

Molly shrugged and dropped the bucket on the floor. "Well, you didn't wake up the first two times." she explained. "So I had to resort to drastic measures."

"The _fuck_ is wrong with you, Fatass?" Sara asked, waving her arms wide.

"You were the one who was laying on the bed in a drunken slumber." Molly pointed out.

"You were the one who got me drunk!" Sara yelled as she waved her arms.

Molly folded her arms and gave the naked Khan a look. "You were the one who decided to bite off more than she could chew."

"Oh, _fuck_ that dried out old fuck!" yelled Sara. "What the hell was that about?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "You picked a fight with a gorramed Desert Ranger." she explained patiently. "He would have _taken you apart_."

"I could have taken him!" Sara yelled.

"Like you could take me?" Molly countered. "Or Boone?"

"I could beat you!" Sara countered. "You and Boone both!" she added, pointing at Molly and Boone.

Molly smirked in amusement while Boone shielded his eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh, for fucks sake Boone, they're just my tits!" Sara snapped at the embarrassed sniper. "The world ain't gonna end if you look at them!"

"But-" Boone started to protest.

"LOOK AT THEM!" Sara yelled, cupping her breasts at him as he shielded his gaze with his hand. "Quit being a pussy and fucking _look_ for once in your life!"

"Sara, no, you're too- gah!" Boone started to say before Molly reached over and yanked his hand down.

"Sorry, Boone.' Molly said as he got a full view of Sara's chest. "You've seen me naked, seeing her naked ain't a big deal either."

"She's a kid." Boone protested, looking down at the floor.

"No, she ain't." Molly countered. "Not in any of the way's that matter. Hell, she's less of a kid than I was when I was when I was her age."

Boone looked up at Molly. "What?" he asked.

"It's true.' Molly told him. "When I was a kid, I was a clueless little shit. Sara's got more common sense than a lot of people in the Mojave."

Sara snickered when Molly said that, and that's when Molly turned her gaze on the Khan. "_But,_ you _do_ need to learn how pick your fights."

Sara snorted and crossed her arms. "Who said I needed to _fight_ you to beat you?" she countered.

Her riposte piqued Molly's interest. "Okay, kid." she said. "How would you beat me?" she asked.

Sara narrowed her eyes and grinned. "Easy. I just need to spread my legs." she said. "You can't resist."

Molly's face twitched as the barb struck home, then she chuckled and shrugged. "Touche'." she said. "Well played, kid. Well played." she added as Sara laughed in triumph. "Now get your ass dressed. We got shit to do."

Oo000oo000oO

"The Gun Runners sell Brahman?" Sara asked as the weapons emporium slowly came into view.

"Yeah." was Molly's response. "It's a side line for them. Usually, they have a couple of extra in the back."

Sara rolled her eyes and gave Molly an irritated look. "I meant _why_ are they selling Brahman, Fatass."

"Oh." Molly said. "Mainly, they keep a few around if they need to make a delivery, and if you're gonna keep livestock in a place like this, it makes sense to breed them to keep your self in replacements.

Plus, as I mentioned before, they can sell the excess animals for caps."

Sara thought about what Molly had said for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, that makes sense." she said. "Still, you'd never expect them to have stuff like that."

"True." Molly said as they came near the kiosk. "And did you just agree with me, Sara?"

"You're not an idiot, Fatass." Sara told her.

"So why do you argue with me all the time?" Molly asked.

The Khan shrugged her shoulders. "I like to fuck with people."

Molly smirked as they came to the front of the kiosk. "Me too, kid. Me too." she said, and then turned to face the Vendotron standing in the kiosk. "Hey, you working?" she asked the machine.

"Welcome sir or madam." the robot replied, it's manner of speaking reminding her of some old pre War holotapes that she'd seen as a kid. "How may I process your transaction?"

"We're looking for a Brahman." Molly said. "You got any you're looking to sell?"

The Vendotron was silent for a few moments as it processed her request, then it responded. "We have three Brahman in stock..." it said. "The price is four hundred and fifty caps. Would you like to purchase?"

Molly looked over at Ami, who nodded. "That's about what you'd get for a healthy cow." she said.

"You don't want to look at it?" Molly asked.

Ami jerked a thumb at the robot standing in the kiosk. "The Gun Runners have a sterling reputation for quality." she said. "The last thing they'd do is sell shoddy merchandise."

Molly conceded that the girl had a point and turned back to the robot. "Okay, we'll take it." she said, and pulled out her bag of caps.

"Thank you," said the Vendotron when she'd counted out the correct amount of caps. "Your Brahman will be brought around front. Thank you for your purchase."

"Alright." Molly said as she put her bag of caps away. "Let's get us a cow and get this show on the road."

"About fuckin' time." Sara muttered under her breath. "It feels like we've been doing this for months."

"Shaddup."

Oo000oo000oO

End.

Author's note: Man, I've got to update more often...


	19. Chapter 20

Echo's of Eras Past

Oo000oo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000oo000oO

By Zombie Boy

Oo000oo000oO

_"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." _ ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Oo000oo000oO

"_There are some advantages to having a Brahman..."_ mused Molly as they trudged south on the 95 towards Helios One _"Not having to carry a heavy assed pack is one of them."_

Which was nice- all she had to lug around was her armor, canteen, weapons, and ammunition. Which wasn't an insubstantial load, but was still a hell of a lot lighter than if she was also carrying her pack. Boone and Ami were both doing better sans pack, while Sara, in her usual contrary way, was carrying her own.

"Sure you don't want to put your pack on the Brahman?" Molly asked the girl.

"And risk losing it if the thing decides to run off?" Sara asked, shooting Molly an incredulous look. "Fuck that."

Molly could understand where the girl was coming from- in the Great Khan's, all you owned was what you could carry with you. So what meager possessions she had were in the pack strapped to her back, so she was _extremely_ possessive of them. It still didn't make any sense from Molly's POV, however, to needlessly over burden oneself when you didn't have to.

A flash of reflected sunlight in the corner of her eye immediately put such thoughts out of her head. Ahead of her, she saw Boone's back stiffen slightly and she heard Sara shift her grip on her varmint rifle.

"Molly..." Boone said in a low voice, trying to keep his body language calm.

"I saw it." Molly said, immediately sweeping her gaze along both sides of the road, looking for possible ambush sites.

"What's going on?" Ami asked, having been looking out at a dry lake bed and not up on current events.

"Looks like we got company." Molly told her, trying to keep her voice down.

"Oh." Ami was Ami's response. "So what's the plan?"

Molly thought for a second, considering the local terrain. Then a smile came to her lips as a plan formed in her mind. "We gonna look like we're taking a piss break." she explained. "Boone, you go the right side of the road and Sara and I will take the left. Sara, you're gonna cover Ami and the Brahman, Boone and I will sneak forward and try to figure out who it is up ahead-"

"Too late." Sara said as a pair of crows suddenly took flight fifty yards ahead of them.

Molly swore and snapped her rifle up to her shoulder as Boone did the same, sweeping her scope's reticule over the nearby terrain, looking for movement. Sara had just gotten her rifle up when three figures erupted from the bush on the left side of the road thirty yards ahead of them, waving machetes and screaming "_RETREBUTION!"_ at the tops of their lungs.

The three Legionaries didn't make it very far- Molly, Boone, and Sara fired almost simultaneously. The Legionary on the left dropped in mid stride, the back of his head missing from Molly's shot. The center Legionary staggered and clutched his chest, Sara having aimed for his center of mass, and the one on the right dropped, Boone's shot having hit him just above the breast bone and punched through his spine.

Behind them, the Brahman gave a surprised "Moo!" and Ami suddenly had her hands full trying to keep it from spooking. Sara, meanwhile, snarled in irritation at her target's rude refusal to drop on the first shot and racked the bolt on her rifle.

Molly was just starting to shift her aim to shoot the remaining Legionary when there was a distant _crack_ and Molly saw a flash on the top of a rise right about where she guessed the lens flash came from and half an instant later there was a _snap_ as a bullet whizzed by, half a foot from her left ear.

"GET COVER!" Molly yelled, dropping her crosshairs on the spot the muzzle flash came from and emptying her magazine at it.

As the bolt clacked open on her rifle Molly saw a figure pop up from near where she was shooting, leveling a rifle at them. Boone was waiting for them, having dropped to one knee to steady his aim. His rifle kicked once, the suppressor making the report a muffled crack, and Molly saw the figure drop.

Ejecting the mag on her rifle, Molly dug in a pouch for a fresh one as she heard the _pop-pop-pop_ of a sub machine gun and saw a figure running down the road at them. The only thing the Legionary charging them managed to hit was his wounded comrade in front of them, who had been staggering around looking at his leaking chest in startled amazement.

Molly had just gotten the mag out of it's pouch when she heard Sara and Boone's rifles fire and the last Legionary stumbled and fell to the ground. He tried to get back up, but another shot from Boone stilled him forever.

Molly slammed the fresh magazine into her rifle and smacked the bolt release, sending the bolt forward and putting a round into the chamber. "Anybody hit?" she asked as she swept the terrain in case there were more.

"I'm okay." Sara answered.

"I'm fine." grunted Boone.

"We're okay." Ami said from behind her.

After there was no more shooting for a few moments, Molly declared a tentative "all clear" and they all relaxed. Looking behind her, Molly saw that Ami was stroking one of the Brahman's head's a murmuring things to it. What ever she was doing seemed to be working, for the animal seemed to calming down, and Molly decided that it was under control pack animal wise and turned her attention to other matters, like looting the bodies of their attackers.

"Sara, you roll the bodies. Boone and I will cover you." Molly told the girl.

"Works for me." was the Khan's reply, and they set to work.

The three Legionary's who had charged them initially turned out to be recruits, boys not much older than Sara, which explained the lack of firearms and suicidal bravery. Surprisingly, the one that Sara had wounded was still alive, lying in a pool of his own blood and breathing shallowly. Sara finished him off for good by slitting his throat with his own machete.

They didn't get much in the way of loot, just some food and coinage from all five, and a lever action carbine chambered in .357 plus a 10mm subgun, both in somewhat poor shape from the two veterans that had been leading the patrol, along with ammunition for both.

"Almost not even worth the ammo." Sara growled in irritation, kicking the head of the recruit she'd shot.

"We got some food, some silver, ammo, and stuff we can trade with." Molly pointed out. "Not to mention we came out alive and unharmed, so that puts us ahead right there."

Sara grunted and kicked the recruit again.

"He's dead, Sara." Boone pointed out.

"Yeah, but he pissed me off." Sara said, and kicked the corpse again. "Fucker didn't drop when I shot him."

"Anyways, lets get moving. We still got a ways to go." Molly said, and waved the their group forward.

Giving the corpse one last good kick, Sara fell in and they walked on, down the 95.

Oo000oo000oO

They camped for the night at an old gas station and headed out the next morning at first light, reaching Helios One by late morning.

"Okay, remember, I'll do the talking." Molly reminded everyone as they walked towards the facility. "Remember, we're here to help." she added, looking pointedly at Sara.

"Relax, Fatass." Sara said, shrugging her shoulders to adjust her pack. "I'll keep my trap shut. You won't even have to hit me."

Once again, Molly found herself reminded of just how fucked up the Khan girl's upbringing was, and made a mental note that if she ever ran across those individuals who had did that to the girl, to end them in very painful and creative ways.

As they approached the facility, a woman came walking up to them with the bars of a 1rst Lieutenant.

"Hi there." the woman said, her tone polite but brooking no nonsense.

Molly noted that while the officer had a casual and non aggressive bearing, the troopers standing behind the sandbag barricade kept their weapons ready and subtly shifted their positions to provide the best firing angles on them.

"_Good troopers."_ Molly thought with some approval. _"Nice to see."_

"Hi." Molly returned the woman's greeting. "I'm Molly Pennington. We heard that you guys were having some troubles and thought we might be able to lend a hand."

"I'm Lieutenant Haggerty." the officer identified herself. "I haven't heard anything about McCarren sending out anyone."

Molly grinned. "We're freelancers." she explained. "We work for the NCR off and on, and well, we figured that there was some way we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Haggerty thought for a few lengthy moments, and then sighed. "Okay." she said. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Whatever salvage we can come up with, in exchange for whatever repairs we can affect." Molly stated.

"Sounds good." Haggerty said with a nod. "You probably couldn't do any worse than the idiot we got working here now."

Molly arched an eyebrow. "Idiot?" she asked.

"You'll know him when you see him." Haggerty advised. "Wears sunglasses, goes by the name Fantastic."

Molly's idiot sense lit up like the Strip when Lt Haggerty said that. "Oh boy." she said.

"Yeah." Haggerty said. "Just to warn ya, he's probably going to make a pass at you at least once."

"Thanks for the warning, but, ah, I got a girlfriend already..." Molly said, jerking her thumb at Ami, who gave one of her brightest smiles.

Haggerty scowled. "That won't stop him." she warned.

Molly shrugged. "Well, if that doesn't work, there's always the old 'kick to the crotch'."

Haggerty smiled when Molly said that. "Feel free." she said. "I've been wanting to do that ever since he showed up here, but I can't because I'm the officer in charge and he's the 'specialist'."

"Will do." Molly said, and turned to her group. "Okay, let's get to work." she said.

Oo000oo000oO

Said idiot was in the back of the facility, which Molly and Sara got to after wandering through the maze like interior of Helios One.

"Heeey..." the man drawled as the two women came in.

Molly took one look at the man and saw that Lt Haggerty wasn't kidding about the man. He had slicked back, blondish hair, was dressed in a lab coat with sunglasses, and his body language was saying that he personally thought that he was _entirely_ too cool to be in a place like this.

"_Oh boy. This is gonna _fun_"_ Molly thought, clamping down on the impulse to roll her eyes. "Hi there." she said. "We're here to help, and Lt Haggerty said that you were in charge of getting this place running again?"

The man's demeanor changed instantly when Molly said that, and he immediately gave both women a suspicious glance.

"Are you trying to replace me?" Fantastic asked. "Cause if you are-"

"We're not here to replace you." said Molly, holding up her hand's defensively, mentally adding _you twat_ at the end of her sentence. "We're just here to help."

"You are?" asked Fantastic, then he shook his head suddenly. "Uh, I mean, I don't need any help. I don't what they've been telling you, but I'll figure out this place and get it running, just you watch!"

"Really." Molly said, mentally putting the man down for a convenient, painful, and possibly karmic accident. "Bosses been giving you trouble?" she asked.

The man shrugged. "They just don't understand a genius like me." he huffed. "They're intimidated by my brilliance."

"I see." Molly said. "So, ah, you got any ideas on how we can help?" she asked.

"Weeeelllll..." drawled Fantastic, his gaze sliding over to Sara "You're friend there can stay and help me with some _experiments_..."

Behind her, Molly heard Sara's low growl and immediately threw out her arm in front of the girl as she started to step forward, mayhem on her mind.

"Ah, no." Molly said. "Trust me on this, very bad idea."

"Oh." Fantastic said, then he looked at her.

"Also no." Molly said. "My girlfriend would object."

Fantastic's face fell when Molly said that, and he sighed. "Well." he said as he dug out a sheet of paper. "There's a couple of terminal's outside. Here's the password to the western one."

"Thanks." Molly said as she took the paper and motioned for Sara to follow her.

When they stepped into the next room, that contained the exit, they found another man in there, also dressed in a white lab coat, underneath which was a blue dress shirt and a striped tie.

"Excuse me." the man said as they passed by him. "I overhead your conversation with … the gentleman in the other room. Are you trying to get this facility working again?"

Molly eyed the man, taking in his facial expression and body language. Egghead slash scientist.

"Something like that." she told him. "What's it to you?"

The man looked into the other room, where Fantastic was safely slouched over a console with his back to them. Looking back at Molly, he motioned for her to some closer to him.

"My name is Ignacio Rivas, and I represent an ... _organization_ one that's trying to help the people of the wastes. The idiot in the other room doesn't know what he's doing, but..." he said and looked around before continuing "But, my research points to that this place was being used to develop weapons of theoretically immense power before the war, along with solar power.

I would like to make sure that one of those technologies does _not_ make into the hands of the NCR."

"_You and me both, kid._" Molly thought. She had read about the Helios One array growing up as a kid, and the last thing she needed was the NCR having something like that in their arsenal if they came calling again.

"Okay..." Molly said. "So, the Followers of the Apocalypse want to make sure that this place isn't used as part of some super weapon, right?"

The man's reaction when she mentioned the Followers proved it to her that he was a member. "Ah, I never said-"

"You're a scientist who likes to help people, you don't want the NCR getting bigger guns, and you don't like weapons tech. Who the hell else would you be working for? New Canaan?" Molly told him as he stiffened. "Relax, I ain't gonna rat you out. I just want to be clear on who I'm dealing with"

"All right." Ignacio said, relaxing slightly. "I am a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse."

"Thank you." Molly said. "Now that we've gotten that cleared up, do you have any useful information for me? Like the password for the other terminal?"

Ignacio reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "I have the other password." he said as he handed it over to Molly. "But I have to warn you, this will enable you to get into the tower, and that's suicide."

Molly smirked as she took the password from Ignacio. "Trust me, we'll be fine." she said. "You just stay here and make sure that numbnuts back there doesn't accidentally blow us up or something."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Ignacio said. "He's been working on the biggest console there, convinced that it's the one that operates the facility, even though I told him that it's for the intercom system."

"Oh." Molly said, and glanced back at Fantastic. "We should be safe then."

"Theoretically."

Oo000oo000oO

When they left the facility gaped at the sight of the solar array spread out before them. They were standing on a cracked concrete porch and the ground sloped away from them, giving the pair of them the best view of the array other than the collector tower itself.

"Holy shit!" Sara swore. "It's gorramend huge!"

"It's got to be." Molly said, and waved her arm at the massive gleaming array. "The way I understand it, this place acts as a giant mirror, focusing the sunlight up at the tower there-" she pointed to said edifice "Where it takes the heat from the sun and converts it into electricity."

"_Damn_." Sara swore. "They might have been soft in the Pre-War days, but they were pretty fucking clever."

The girl's statement made Molly smile. "Yeah, they were, weren't they?" she asked.

"So, where the hell do we start?" asked Sara, looking over the expanse of the site.

"That." Molly said, looking around "Is a very good question, Miss... by the way, what the hell is your last name?"

Sara blinked and looked at Molly in confusion. "Last name?" she asked. "What do you mean, last name? 

Molly looked at the girl for a moment as she figured out how to explain the concept of surnames to the tribal. "Your last name, the name of your family?" she asked. "My last name is Pennington, Ami's is Bjornson..."

"Ohhhh..." Sara said as she understood what Molly was talking about. "You need one of those?"

Molly arched an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. That way you can identify family groups." she explained. "You don't have family names in the Khans?"

"Oh. We go by he's the son or grand son of son and so, or she's the niece of that guy." Sara explained. "We really don't see much point to them. Besides, you pick your name after your beat down anyways, so it really doesn't matter."

"Of course." Molly said. "You're a tribal. I forgot, you look at thing's differently than most other people... well, while we're here, you're gonna need a last name in case anybody asks."

"They're that important?" Sara asked.

"Yes, they are." Molly answered. "Now what to name you..."

Molly thought for a few moments and snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. "I got it." she said.

"What?" Sara asked.

"Kublai." Molly said. "You can go by Kublai while were here as your alias."

"Kublai." Sara said, trying out the word on her tongue. "Weird name."

Molly smirked and clapped the girl on the shoulder. "It's the name of Kublai Khan, son of Gengis Khan, the man who your tribe is named after." she explained. "I figured it'd be appropriate, and most people don't know it, so..."

Sara grinned at Molly's explanation. "So I can be rubbing it into all these NCR fucks faces and they wont even know it?" she asked. "Damn, Fatass, sometimes you're pretty smart."

"Thanks." Molly said. "Well, anyways, back to our original subject, where to start."

Molly pointed to a small shack set amongst the collectors. "I figure we'll start with the terminals, then go get Boone and Ami and see what we can't scavenge from the wrecked ones."

"We're not going in there?" Sara asked, pointing at the tower.

Molly shook her head. "No, not today. That thing's got defenses left over from when the Brotherhood of Steel was here, and that's gonna be a royal _bitch_ to crack, so best to start on that fresh in the morning."

"Oh." Sara said.

"Anyways, lets go." Molly said, and set off towards the shack. "We're burning daylight."

Oo000oo000oO

At the eastern terminal Molly and Sara ran into a problem- four of them, to be specific.

"Well, _shit_." Molly said as she put her hand's on her hips. "This is gonna complicate things."

Sara arched an eyebrow at the four, large, snarling, dogs barking and snapping their jaws on the other side of the western terminal's chain link fence.

"How?" she asked. "Just shoot the fuckers."

""Sara, while that is the simplest solution, these dogs are property of the NCR." Molly explained. "They tend to get a bit bitchy about these sorts of things."

Sara smirked. "That's cause they're-" she started to say before Molly elbowed her in the ribs.

"Quiet." Molly told her in a low voice. "We got company."

Molly turned to face the NCR trooper who was ambling up to them, coffee cup in hand.

"Can we help you, Corporal?" she asked.

"Actually, that's what I was going to ask you." the trooper said as he came to a stop in front of them. "You two are part of that group helpin' that shit for brains Fantastic?"

Molly smiled at the trooper's description of the "scientist" in the sub basement of Helios One. "Yes, actually, we are the ones to have that honor." she said. "We were trying to get into the second terminal here, but those guard dogs are preventing that. Could you get their handlers out here possibly to get them out of there?"

The corporal looked at the dogs and took a gulp of coffee. "Wouldn't do any good." he said.

"Why?" Molly asked.

"Legion patrol did something to 'em." explained the trooper. "Turned 'em psycho. They attack anything that moves."

"So why haven't you destroyed them?" Molly asked, glancing backwards at the dogs.

The trooper shrugged. "Figured they'd be a good addition to the traps, keep idiots away from the terminal."

"I see." Molly said. "So, if we were to shoot them, nobody would really care?"

"Pretty much." the trooper said.

"Good."

With that, Molly turned to face the dogs, drew her sidearm, and calmly shot all four of them in the head.

"Good gorram, woman." the trooper said in awe. "That's fucking stone _cold_. We could use someone like you when the Legion shows up."

"Thank you." Molly said, giving the man a pretty smile.

Next to her, Sara rolled her eyes as the trooper chuckled. "If you weren't into girls, I'd ask what you were doing later."

Molly smirked and crossed her arms. "Well, why don't you swing on by when you get off duty?" she asked.

The trooper got a surprised look on his face. "I, uhhh... I thought you liked girls-"

"I do." Molly told him. "But we also like guys."

"Ahhh..." the trooper said, nodding in understanding. "So the lesbian couple thing was just to keep the fuckhead from hitting on you."

"Pretty much." Molly confirmed. "We'll be seeing you..." she added with a wink.

"I can't wait." the trooper said as he wandered off.

When the trooper was out of earshot Sara turned to Molly and arched an eyebrow at her. "I can't turn tricks, but you and the Crazy Bitch can pick up random guys?" she asked. "What the fuck?"

Molly holstered her pistol and looked at Sara. "The difference is that we aren't selling ourselves to eke out an existence at the fringe of society." she explained. "_We_ can say no when we want to. Did you ever _have_ a choice when you were doing that?"

Sara opened her mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, then finally stomped her foot in frustration.

"Dammit, you're making me think like a member of the NCR!" she snapped.

""You're welcome." Molly said dryly. "Now, if we're done here, we got work to do. If the traps are anything like the ones at the other terminal, they're gonna be a pain in the ass."

"Stupid fucking Fatass..." Sara muttered as they opened the gate and stepped over the bodies of the dogs.

Oo000oo000oO

"So this what the Gecko looks like."

Boone turned and looked at Sara, who was standing at the feet of Dinky and looking up at the concrete saurian.

"Dinosaur." Boone corrected.

"What?" Sara asked, giving Boone a confused look.

"It's a dinosaur." Boone elaborated. "Named Dinky."

"What the fuck is a dinosaur?" Sara asked.

Boone shrugged. "Giant lizard looking creatures that lived a long time ago." he explained. "How did you not know about Dinky? You came through here."

Now it was Sara's turn to shrug. "It didn't seem very important, and I had only seen the place from far away."

"You never approached?"

"We keep clear of the place 'cause of the snipers."

Boone laughed at Sara's statement and shook his head. Sara, on the other hand, was confused.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

" I was one of those snipers." Boone explained. "I was the night watch."

"Oh." Sara said, then the corner of her mouth curled up into a smile. "Huh, that's kinda funny.''

"It is." Boone agreed as Sara yawned. "Tired?"

"Yeah." Sara said as she looked around. "Where's a good place to sleep?''

Boone reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "I got a room at the motel." he said.

"That'll work." Sara said.

"Okay." Boone said. "I'll take the couch, you get the bed."

"Why don't you want the bed?" Sara asked, curious and somewhat suspicious. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing." Boone told her. "I'm just being nice."

"Oh." Sara said. "_That_."

"Why is that such a hard thing for you to accept?" Boone asked as they headed for the hotel's courtyard. "You've been following us for a while."

"Nobody does it in the Khans." Sara said. "At least not to me."

"We're not the Khans." Boone said.

"I noticed." Sara said. "It's... _nice_ not to have to watch my back."

"I know what you mean." Boone said as they reached his door. "Trust me."

"Good." Sara said as Boone unlocked the door and they stepped inside.

Oo000oo000oO

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, please review.

End.


	20. Chapter 21

Echoes of Eras Past

Oo000ooo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic.

Oo000ooo000oO

We do what we must  
>because we can.<br>For the good of all of us.  
>Except the ones who are dead.<p>

GLADOS, _Still Alive_

Oo000ooo000oO

Yawning, Sara stepped out into the still quiet of a Mojave morning, and scratched an itch she had at the back of her neck. Looking around the parking lot of the Novac motel, Sara was starting to think about breakfast when she heard a door open to her left. She looked to her left just as the man turned around from locking it and they both froze for a second.

"Manny?" Sara asked, her still sleepy brain not _quite_ that she was indeed seeing what was in front of her.

The man paused for a second when her saw her, then looked her up and down.

"Hey, you were with Jesup's crew when they came through with that guy-" he started to say.

"Fuck you." Sara retorted. "Anyone who's friends with Jesup can go suck a dick." she added, then a nasty smirk spread across her face "Of course, you'd actually _like_ that, wouldn't you, you little fucking fairy?"

"Hey." Manny said, anger in his voice as he held up a hand "I don't what the fuck your problem was with Jesup, but he's a friend-"

"Who fucking _raped_ me, you stupid fucking faggot." Sara said, stalking towards him. "The only reason he brought me along is so he share me with his friends and that Benny guy."

"Bullshit." Manny said. Punctuating his denial by smacking his fist against the side of the building. "Jesup's a good guy. He wouldn't-"

"He did, and more." Sara countered as she stopped in front of him. "Where the fuck do you think I got these?" she asked, pointing to the bruises on her face.

Manny shrugged. "Maybe you got them from running your mouth off?" he asked. "Your dad used to have to do the same thing to keep Sage from doing the same thing."

Sara's eyes narrowed at the mention of her parents and her mother in particular. "And maybe if you quit dreaming about Jesup's dick you would've seen what kind of a piece a shit he is."

Manny staggered like he had gotten punched in the gut, then his face twisted into a snarl as his anger flared to life. "THAT'S A LIE!" he bellowed as he swung a fist at Sara's head.

Sara was barely able to jump backwards in time to avoid Manny's punch, and he swung past her she came up with her pipe coming at Manny's head in a side ways arc. He jerked his forearm up just in time to block it and it impacted on his forearm with a metallic _'thud'_ and a grunt of pain from Manny.

Manny followed up his block of Sara's swing with a punch to her gut, which hit home and she doubled over as it drove her backwards. Grabbing her pipe arm with his blocking arm, he delivered two more punches with his free hand before Sara was to break free by taking a swipe at him with her free hand.

Manny staggered backwards with a snarl, her fingers having raked across his face but missed his eyes. Still, it was enough for her to drive him back and enable her to break free. Sara lunged at him swinging her pipe in quick diagonal arcs, forcing him backwards to avoid getting hit by it.

"C'mon!" Sara goaded Manny as she swung at him. "I'm smaller than you! Easy pickings! C'mon!"

Manny hesitated for a second, then made his decision and was rearing back slightly before lunging at her when a loud gunshot split the morning air. Both combatants jumped and spun towards the source of the shot to see Molly, Ami, and their Brahman standing in the gate, Ami with a massive hunting revolver in her hand.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Molly asked, directing her question at Sara as she walked towards the two of them.

Sara shrugged. "Me and the fairy here were talking about his little boy toy." she said, jerking her thumb at Manny.

"Watch your mouth, you punk assed bitch-" Manny growled.

"Come over here and make me, Princess." Sara said, gesturing with her pipe.

"Keep that up and I will, you little bitch."

"I'd like to see you try-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Boone said as he came stomping out of his motel room.

Molly pinched the bridge of her nose and gave the sigh that has been given by long suffering NCO's since time immemorial.

"Apparently..." she said "Sara here was having a discussion with Mr Vargas about his homosexuality and how it affects his relationship with Jesup."

"What- Manny isn't gay..." Boone said.

"Yes, he is." Molly corrected.

"Yeah, why do you think the Khan's didn't give a shit about him leaving?" Sara chimed in. "You think we want a fairy running around with our colors?"

Boone looked at Manny, who was looking sheepish and staring at his boots. "Manny..." he asked. "Is this true..."

Manny gave the slightest of nods. "Yeah..." he said in a small voice.

Boone blinked twice, then started towards his friend. "You son of bitch!" he snarled. "That's why you were so happy when Carla-"

"TROOPERS, ATTEN- _SHUN!_" Molly bellowed in a voice that would have warmed the black empty void in a drill Sergent's chest where his heart would be.

Both men snapped to attention, all thoughts of fighting erased from their minds as instinct pounded in on the parade ground made them both snap to attention.

"Vargas!" Molly snapped, directing her attention at Manny. "You got an overwatch to do! Get to your post!"

Manny nodded, saluted, and broke out into a run for Dinky as Molly turned her attention to Boone. "Boone! Get your shit! We don't have time for this!"

Boone nodded and ran back into his room as Sara snickered and got Molly's attention." Sara!" she snapped, striding up to the Khan.

Sara jumped and found herself involuntarily straightening up as Molly closed in on her. "There'll be a time and a place to deal with, but this ain't it." she told the girl. "Now get your crap. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Sara nodded and ran for Boone's room.

Oo000ooo000oO

"You didn't know Manny was a fag?" Sara asked as they walked past the Gibson Scrap yard on their way to HELIOS One. "How could you miss that?"

"I'm a sniper. I specialize in spotting people and shooting them in the head from a long way away." Boone stated. "Not determine who they like to have sex with."

"Oh." Sara said, then took a drink of water from her canteen. "Why'd Fatass start yelling at everybody?" she asked out of the blue.

Boone looked at the blue haired woman who was walking ahead of them with Ami and shrugged. "My guess, she was an NCO when she was in First Recon." he said. "That's my best guess, anyways."

Sara glanced over at Boone. "She hasn't told you?" she asked. "And what's an NCO?"

"Non Commissioned Officer." Boone explained. "Basically, they're the guys who run the squads. As for Molly's past, that's her decision, not mine."

Sara grunted in reply and retreated into her thoughts as they walked along.

Oo000ooo000oO

A short while later, the party found themselves standing in front of the door to the collection tower.

"Okay." Molly said, turning to face the other three members of the group. "Here's the battle plan: Boone, you're with me. Ami, you and Sara bring up the rear, got it?"

Boone and Ami nodded, while Sara opened her mouth to say something.

"And before you say anything, Sara, you and Ami have got lightest armor out of the four of us, plus, you've got the lightest armament." Molly pointed out. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll be in front, so I'll be the one most likely to get shot."

Sara closed her mouth and smirked at the mental image that statement created, and Molly turned to the door. "Okay, everybody off to one side.' she said. "I'm gonna open the door."

The other three moved off to either side of the doorway and Molly took the side that Boone was on. Reaching over, she grabbed the knob on the door and twisted it. With a series of clacks, the door folded up into its frame and Molly took a peek inside.

Inside the building there was a short hallway, thankfully empty, that turned a corner. Not hearing anything beep or click or whine, or make any of the noised that automated defenses made, Molly put her rifle into the low ready position and cautiously stepped inside, with Boone right behind her.

Ami was the next in, with Sara following behind her, both of them carrying their rifles at the ready. When they reached the corner Molly held up her fist as a signal to stop, and looked back over her shoulder to check on her team. Seeing them right where she expected them to be, she peeked around the corner...

Only to jerk her head back as a beep sounded followed by a burst of 5mm fire.

"Turrets!" yelled Molly as concrete dust and chips exploded at the edge of the corner.

"Plan?" Boone yelled over the gunfire.

"Well, if all else fails, wait for the damn things to run out of ammo-" she started to say when she saw a door almost directly across from them, a door with 'Security' stenciled across it in faded paint. "Hold on." she said.

Taking a closer look at the door, Molly saw that the lock indicator was on open, so that was a boon.

"Well?" yelled Boone.

"I'm gonna sprint for that door." Molly said, pointing at said door. "Hopefully, there's a control for those turrets in there."

"Those things will cut you to pieces!" Boone pointed out.

Molly shook her head. "No they won't." she countered. "There's a bit of a lag with turret tracking systems. It should give me enough time to get over there and through the door. Besides, people shooting at them are given a higher priority." she added as she handed her rifle to Boone.

Boone took the rifle, her intention dawning on him as she indicated that he trade places with her. Once they had traded places, Molly nodded at Boone and counted down on her fingers. When she hit zero, Boone swung her rifle around the corner and started shooting as Molly dashed out of cover.

Molly dimly heard the turrets chirp as they registered a new target and there was the briefest pause in their firing as their targeting software attempted to determine which target to give priority to, but she was focused on nothing but the door.

First step. Metallic clack from behind her as her rifle's magazine went dry and the bolt locked back.

Second step. She had her arm out, hand reaching for the control's on the door. Whirr of an electric motor as the turrets re targeted at her-

Third step. Twist and _push_, forcing the door mechanism open faster than it would on it's own. Gunshot's in the distance. Muffled thump from nearby as the door starts to fold open-

_Lunge_ through the opening door as bullet impacts hit the door frame and floor sounding like hellish firecrackers.

Molly saw a yellow light in the corner of her vision and reflexes took over, leaping over them as she reached out and grabbed the edge of the table in the middle of the room. Torquing her body, she skidded to a stop on the table's top as the world snapped back to regular speed to the sound of the door closing automatically.

"Wow." she said, looking around at the room full of frag mines. "Thanks Mom."

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and then took a moment to check to make sure that she wasn't hit. Not finding that she was in possession of any extra holes, Molly then slid lithely off the table and considered the various frag mines set throughout the room.

"_As least there were some good things that came out of my time at Yakima._" Molly thought as she looked at the frag mine just in front of the toe of her boot. _"But I had better get these thing's disarmed and moved, or there's gonna be all sorts of questions I don't want to answer..._"

Working quickly but carefully, Molly disarmed the frag mines and stacked them in the corner where there were some inactive ones, then she went to the terminal that was in the corner of the room and booted it up. Out side, she could her the turrets still firing, as well as the sound of a larger caliber gun going off- probably Ami's since Boone had a can on his rifle.

After the terminal booted up, Molly held down the control key and two of the function keys for five seconds. The terminal beeped and lines of code scrolled upwards on the screen, followed by a command prompt. She smiled and entered a command.

A few more commands later and she was in. Keying down, she selected 'deactivate turrets' and hit ENTER. The terminal beeped and outside, the sounds of the turrets fell silent- and allowing the sound of caterpillar tracks and the mechanical clanking of a Protectron to be heard.

"Of course." she said aloud and headed for the door.

When she opened the door the first thing she saw was Boone and Ami reloading as Sara fired around the corner. Gritting her teeth against the concussive _bang_ of Sara's varmint rifle- Molly made a mental note to get a can for it- she yelled at Boone.

"Boone! Rifle!" she yelled.

Boone looked up at her shout, saw her standing in the doorway, unslung her rifle and tossed it to her. Molly caught it easily, and yanked the spent magazine out of it. Reaching behind her, she pulled out a mag and looked at the ammunition loaded into it. Black tip. Nodding to herself, she slammed the mag home and hit the bolt release.

Peeking around the door frame, she saw a Robobrain trundling towards them on a catwalk, followed by a couple of Securitrons. Thankfully, the Robobrain's bulk was preventing the Securitrons from getting an angle on them.

"Boone, Ami." Molly called out. "Three robots, Robobrain and a couple of Securitrons. Aim for the brain-bot's head."

The two of them nodded and they got into position after they finished reloading. At Molly's signal, all three of them leaned out and opened up on the lead robot, which was almost to the hallway.

The results were... _messy_. Molly's armor piercing round punched right through the transparent composite dome, spiderwebbing and weakening it. Ami and Boone's punched through as well, all three rounds dead center on the robot's dome.

The front of the dome exploded outward in a geyser of blood, bio med gel, brains, and shattered composite as the Robobrain jerked spasmaticlly to a stop, blocking the path of the Securitrons behind it. Molly peeked out from her cover, saw that the robots were stopped for the time being and stepped out into the hallway.

"Let's _move_, people!" Molly said as she started down the hallway, Boone falling in behind her. "Those Securitrons aren't gonna stay there all day!"

Ami was right behind them with Sara bringing up the rear.

"Anybody got some dynamite? We could take out those robots-" Sara started to say but Ami interrupted her.

"Too dangerous. Confined area and too big of an explosive." she said. "Grenades are better."

"So how are we gonna take 'em out?" Sara asked.

As if to answer her, Molly snapped her rifle up and double tapped the trigger twice, shifting her aim between shots. There were a couple of flashes and explosions behind the hulk of the Robobrain followed by the sound of two robots crashing to the floor.

"Like that." Ami said.

When she reached the hulk of the Robobrain, Sara paused a moment to look at the two Securitrons and she whistled in amazement when she saw that Molly had neatly shot both of the robot's at the very top of their heads, overloading their weapons arrays and knocking them out.

"Damn, Fatass..." Sara said to herself, then hurried to catch up with the group.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Hey."

Sara looked up from where she was leaning up against a pillar gnawing on a piece of jerky. "Yeah, Fatass?" she asked.

"Could we talk for a minute?" Molly asked.

"I ain't stopping you." Sara said as she took a drink from her Nuka Cola. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Your language." Molly said. "You and Manny, when you were fighting, you called him some really nasty stuff-"

Sara arched an eyebrow at Molly. "You're upset because I called him a fag?" she asked.

"Yes." Molly answered.

"Oh, _that_." Sara said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "I was doing that to piss him off."

"Well, it worked." Molly said.

Sara grinned ferally at Molly's statement. "I know." she said. "I got that little fuck good."

"Yeah. You did." Molly said with a nod. "But about your language- if you have a problem with homosexuals, you should-"

Molly stopped when Sara held up her hand. "Listen, Fatass, lets get something straight." she said. "I'm not that way, and I really can't imagine how anyone in their right mind _could_ be that way, but I really couldn't care any less who someone fuck's, just as long as it doesn't affect _me_. Okay?"

Molly nodded, satisfied by Sara's explanation."Okay then." she said. "I was just making sure."

"Whatever." Sara said as she went back to her meal.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Well, look at what we got here..." Molly said as they stepped out of the elevator into the lower part of the control room. "Look around, _but don't touch anything_."

"Okay." Ami said.

She and the other two members of the party fanned out and began looking through things while Molly headed for the mainframe computer that was at the other end of the room. Unslinging her rifle, she set it to one side and crouched down at the mainframe's command terminal.

"Okay... let's see what we got here..." she muttered "This is a Robco Z57900 main frame... so the power controls would be _here_..."

Molly reached over to a metal panel to the right of the terminal and flipped it open. That revealed a rotary switch and a large button, with a trio of lights. Thinking for a moment, she reached over and flipped the switch over to the start position. Immediately Molly knew something was wrong- the left hand light didn't light up, indicating that there was no power.

Stepping back, she frowned and starting looking around. Immediately her gaze fell on a generator with a frayed cable running from it to the mainframe. Stepping over to the generator, she crouched down and took a close look.

The cable was frayed through, with just the insulation holding it together. Looking at the cable, Molly made a educated guess as to the gauge of the cable and stood up. Looking around, she saw Sara dump a desk drawer full of scrap onto the desk it came out of.

"Hey, kid, hold up there." Molly told her.

"What?" Sara asked as Molly walked over to her. "You see something?"

"Yeah." Molly said as she stuck a hand into the pile and rummaged around for a second. "I saw something I need."

"You saw something to reduce that massive ass of yours?" Sara asked as Molly pulled a length of cable from the pile.

"Sadly for you, no." Molly said as she held up the cable. "But I am going to need this if I'm gonna get that mainframe working."

"Oh." Sara said, and looked down at the pile of junk on the desk. "You gonna need anything else out of this crap?" she asked.

"Maybe." Molly said with a shrug. "I don't know. Put it to one side just in case."

"Okay Fatass." Sara said and swept it back into the drawer that it came out of and dropped it on the floor next to the desk.

Molly went back to the mainframe and flipped the rotary switch back to the off position, then made sure the cable was disconnected from the generator, then drew her combat knife and set to work patching the cable. That didn't take her long, she just cut the frayed ends away, then stripped the cable pieces before splicing them in and taping them together.

Plugging the repaired cable back into the generator and went back to the main console. This time, when she flipped the power switch over the light came on, indicating that there was power. Pressing the large button, the three lights lit up, then two went out before middle one came on steady and the right one started blinking. Then the monitor lit up along with the lights on the keyboard, and it booted.

When the command menu came up, Molly began exploring her options. Among them, she noted, was the option for remote activation. And then an idea sparked in her brain. Going back through the options, the spark flared and grew into a plan.

"Hey, Sara." Molly called. "C'mere for a sec, would ya?"

Sara dropped what she was doing and walked over to where Molly was. "Yeah?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"You know Fantastic?" asked Molly.

Sara nodded once. "Yeah. Thinks he's God's gift to women. What about him?" she asked.

Molly beckoned for her to come closer to her. "You want to do something for me?" she asked.

"What?" Sara asked. "If you want me to sleep with him, it's gonna cost ya."

Molly smiled. "Well, you're not gonna go that far, but you are gonna be doing something that vein..." she explained "Lean closer. I'll tell it to you."

Sara leaned in and Molly whispered her plan into Sara's ear. When she was done, the Khan grinned from ear to ear.

"Gor-_ram_ girl, that's fucking _evil._" she said. "I think I'm starting to like ya..."

Molly chuckled. "Stop the presses, Sara's actually liking someone." she said.

"Huh?" asked Sara, not getting the metaphor.

"Never mind, I picked it up from a book." Molly said. "Anyways, think you can do it?" she asked.

Sara smirked. "Easily." she said.

"Glad to hear it." Molly said, and the look on her face reminded Sara of a Deathclaw.

Oo000ooo000oO

At eight fifty five the next morning Molly, Boone, Sara, Ami, and Lt Haggerty were standing in the mirror yard, looking up at the collector tower.

"So, you think this is going to work?" Haggerty asked Molly.

"It had better, if we want that salvage." Molly said as her Pip Boy beeped.

"What was that?" asked Haggerty.

"Five minute warning." Molly explained.

"Ah."

Oo000ooo000oO

Fantastic stepped out onto the observation deck feeling like a million caps . It was a minute to nine, and he was going to be getting some sweet, sweet, loving from three hot chicks. Walking down the catwalk to the main deck, a million cap grin.

It faltered when he got onto the deck and saw that no one was there, but then it came back to full strength when he figured that they were just running late. Deciding to that the best way to kill the time was to take in the view. Walking to where there was a console placed on an extension jutting out from the observation deck.

Taking a deep breath, he crossed his arms as he took in the view. "Man, what _Fantastic_ view." he said, the double entendre making him grin.

A sudden beep from the console in front of him made him frown and he looked down at it in confusion, then his face brightened.

"Damn, I'm so good that I can get stuff to work just by it being in my presence!" he said with a grin, then he noticed that it was getting brighter. "Hey, why is it getting bright-"

Then the world became fire.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Huh." Haggerty said as she watched the mirrors focus on the tower, then she cocked her head to one side. "Hey, do you hear some one screaming?" she asked.

Molly cocked her head to one side as well. "Yeah." she said.

At the very top of the tower a flailing, fiery figure appeared before falling over the railing and falling like a flaming meteor to the ground in front of them.

"What the hell is going on here?" Haggerty demanded as she looked at now obviously dead and burning body. "You two!" she yelled at two troopers who came running up "Put him out!"

Both troopers immediately started kicking dirt and stomping on the body, putting it out in a few short minutes.

"Who the hell is it?" Haggerty asked as she looked at the body. "Who is- Fantastic?" she asked. "What the hell was he doing up there?"

Molly shrugged as she came up to the scene. "Hell if I know." she said.

"Well." Haggerty said. "Well, he's done. Somebody get a shovel."

Oo000ooo000oO

End.

Authors note: Okay, first of all, in regards to Sara's language: I apologize if I offended anybody, but anyone who's had the kind of life and upbringing that she's had isn't going to be PC. Second, she's an illiterate tribal in the Mojave Wasteland, who's tribe is basically a bunch better organized, drug making, raiders. Third, how do you think a group like that is going to view homosexuals?

Zombie Boy.


	21. Chapter 22

Echoes of Eras Past

Oo000ooo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic.

Oo000ooo000oO

_Be generous, be delicate, and always pursue the prize. _ Henry James_, __from his essay about the rules of writing._  
>Oo000ooo000oO<p>Fantastic was buried in a manner fitting of man such as himself: Two troopers drug his body past the wire to where the smell wouldn't reach the installation and dumped it into a small ravine. While he was being laid to rest, Molly and her team set to work gathering up their payment- in this case, all of the damaged solar panels that were lying around in the array.<p>

They finished up by mid afternoon and headed back to Novak to rest up before heading out in the morning. When they walked into the motel parking lot they ran into Cliff Briscoe crossing the parking lot and he angled towards them.

"Hey, Molly is it?" he asked, singling her out.

"Yeah." Molly answered. "What do you need?"

"Me and the other residents of Novac have been talking, and we'd like to thank you for all the good you've done us, what with clearing out those ghouls and that Viper encampment..." Briscoe said as he dug around in his pocket and produced a key. "So, since I'm the manager here at the hotel now, I've decided to give you your own room at the hotel. It's the one you rented when you first came here."

"Oh, well, thank you." Molly said as she took the offered key.

"You're welcome." Briscoe said. "Also, there's a ten percent discount at the Gift Shop for you and your friends."

"We'll be sure to take advantage of that." Molly told him. "But, right now, I just want to get out of this armor and go take a shower."

"It's all yours." Briscoe said and resumed walking towards the Gift Shop.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Hey, Ami..."

Ami looked up from where she was sitting on the bed tinkering with the project that she had been working on and saw Molly standing by the foot of the bed fresh from her shower, wrapped in a towel.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I want to borrow those leather working skills of yours." Molly answered, nodding at the leather components of her project that she had been stitching together.

"Okay." Ami agreed. "What do you want me to make?"

"A holster." Molly replied, and walked over to where her pack was.

As she bent down to rummage in her pack. Ami took the opportunity to ogle her friend's bare bottom as it peeked out from underneath the towel. After a few moments of rummaging and pulling a couple of things out, Molly found what she was looking for and straightened up.

"For this, specifically." Molly said, handing over a weird, clunky, looking revolver that Ami didn't recognize.

"What the hell kind of gun is _this_?" Ami asked as she took the weapon from her friend.

"It's a Shimago-Cominstetz ZG11. Basically, it's a .223 caliber revolver," Molly replied.

"Huh." Ami said as she pushed the cylinder release and it came out with a quiet whir and click. "Interesting piece of equipment. What are you going to do with it?" she asked, pressing the release again and watching as the cylinder retracted back into the gun.

Molly shrugged, causing her towel to slid down a little. "I was gonna give it to Sara." she said.

Ami looked at her friend and arched her eyebrows.

"What?" Molly said. "She needs a sidearm, and since she's already running that varmint rifle, she's got ammo compatibility."

"Okay..." Ami said. "Though I figured you would rather want to trade this off to the Gun Runners instead..."

"They sell copies of it, and they're the only ones who have them." Molly pointed out as she walked over to her pack and pulled out a tank top and a pair of panties. "The only thing that makes it valuable is the fact that it's an original. And I figured I'd do something nice for the kid, you know?"

"That makes sense." Ami said as she looked over the revolver. "I don't have the materials I'm gonna need for this on me right now..."

"The McBride's will probably have some hides." Molly pointed out. "They had a bunch of Brahman killed by a Nightkin recently."

"Nightkin!" Ami exclaimed, her head whipping around to look at Molly. "Here? There's Nightkin _here!_"

"Not anymore." Molly told her. "Me and Boone cleared them out for a cult of ghouls that had taken up residence in the Repconn Facility up the road."

"Oh." Ami said. "Wait, when was this?"

"About a week before we ran into you, give or take a couple of days." Molly told her.

"Ah." Ami said and swung her legs off the bed. "Well, I'm gonna go see if those people you mentioned have any hides for sale."

"Don't you want to know where they are?" Molly asked, arching an eyebrow at her friend.

"That would help, yes..." Ami said as she grabbed her gun belt.

"You know where that big tent is?" Molly asked.

Ami nodded. "Yeah." she said.

"Well, follow that road next to it that leads to the railroad tracks. They're in the last house on the left." Molly continued.

"Thank you Molly." Ami said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before heading to the door.

"You're welcome." Molly told her. "I should have dinner cooking by the time you get back, and the shower should be reheated by then too."

"Okay." Ami said as she went out the door.

Oo000ooo000oO

By the time Molly was done with her shower Ami was back from the McBrides with a whole cowhide and a gleam in her eye.

"Found what you were looking for?" Molly asked.

"Oh, yeah." Ami answered. "Got a good deal for it."

"How much?"

Ami held up the hide. "Seventy caps."

Molly's eyebrows shot up. "Seventy caps, for a whole hide?" she asked, surprised at the price, as a whole hide normally ran around a hundred and fifty caps depending on how it was tanned. "How'd you swing that? You give Dusty a blow job?"

Ami grinned. "I grew up on a Brahman ranch." she pointed out. "I just talked shop with him and he was so impressed that he gave me a discount."

"Of course." Molly said with a snap of her fingers. "So, is it gonna take you long to make?" she asked.

Ami shook her head. "No, not really." she said. "The stitching is gonna be the longest part."

"Ah." Molly said and undid the towel that she had wrapped around herself. "You have fun with that. _I'm_ gonna be drying off."

"Oh, I get some scenery while I work!" Ami exclaimed as she tossed the hide onto the bed.

Oo000ooo000oO

The group left Novac shortly after dawn the next morning without any major incidents. There was a tense moment when Manny and Boone saw each other, but they walked past each other and didn't say a word. Sara, thankfully, was using the restroom at the time and wasn't able to put in her two caps worth.

They made the 188 by late afternoon. Molly decided that they'd be better off just camping there for the night rather than pushing on and having to camp on the road. There was security in numbers after all, and the last thing that Molly wanted to have was a night fight with Raiders or the Legion when they were all by their lonesome.

After getting the Brahman settled and a campsite set up, Molly and Boone headed for the bar to get something to drink for the party, leaving Ami and Sara by their lonesome.

"Alright, what is it?" Sara asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stared at the purple haired girl.

"Huh?" Ami asked from where she was setting a stew on the fire.

"You've been looking at me out of the corner of your eye and smiling for the last fifteen minutes." Sara said. "Just what the fuck are you up to, Crazy Bitch?"

"I'm not up to anything." Ami answered as truthfully as she could.

Sara, on the other hand, was decidedly unimpressed. "Bull _shit_." she said, crossing her arms. "You're up to something."

"What could _I_ possibly be up to?" Ami asked.

Sara gave her a skeptical look. "Well, for one thing, I think you want to fuck me." she said.

Ami thought for a second, then nodded. "Well, yeah, but you don't naturally swing that way, so there's no point in me trying, really."

"I doubt that-"

"Hey, you kids getting along there?" Molly's voice interrupted their conversation.

Ami and Sara turned and saw her walking up to them in the dying afternoon light with a couple of bottles in one hand and a cloth wrapped bundle in the other.

"Crazy Bitch here is up to something." Sara said, jerking a thumb at the purple haired woman. "She's been looking at me out the corner of her eye and smiling."

"Oh." said Molly as she walked up to them. "She's not up to something. _I'm_ up to something."

"What?" Sara asked, instantly on guard.

"Here." Molly said and handed the bundle to Sara. "I got you something."

Sara looked at the bundle for a moment, then cautiously took it from her.

"Go ahead, open it." Molly said.

Sara glanced up at Molly for a second, then unwrapped the bundle to find herself looking at that gun that Molly had acquired, in it's holster, on a gun belt, with a couple dozen rounds of .223 inserted into the loops.

For one of the few times in her life, Sara was at a loss for words. She looked up at Molly with an expression of the most complete astonishment that she had ever seen and tried to say something, but nothing came out.

"Whuh- _why_?" she was finally able to get out.

Molly shrugged. "Because you need a sidearm, and that thing has been rattling around in the bottom of my pack for the longest time, and I thought it'd be a really nice thing for me to do."

"I don't know what to say." Sara said, still dumbfounded by what had happened.

"Thank you works." Molly told her. "Now put that thing on so we can see how it fits, then we can eat."

Sara nodded and buckled the belt around her waist, tied the hold down thong around her thigh, and then stepped back so everyone could see how it looked on her.

"It looks good on you." Molly observed.

"Where did you get it?" Sara asked, as she looked at it, trying to catch the last little bit of the sun coming in over the Western horizon.

"I made it." Ami answered.

Sara jerked her head up and looked at Ami with wide eyes. Ami just smiled back at her.

"Oh." Sara said awkwardly. "Uhhhh... thanks."

"You're welcome." Ami chirped, and then went back to tending the stew.

"What do you think?" Molly asked, nudging Boone with her elbow. "Does she _not_ look like one of the most bad-assed bitches of the Wasteland?"

Boone swallowed and looked at Sara, then he nodded. "It looks good on her." he said quietly.

Molly shrugged and clapped Sara on the shoulder. "That's high praise, coming from Mr Friendly there." she said. "Now come on and sit your ass down. I got you something to drink."

Oo000ooo000oO

The ruins of Las Vegas were a blob on the horizon as Molly directed their proto-caravan right, heading directly north, towards some crumbling elevated highways and alongside the main water pipe from Lake Mead.

"Hey, Fatass, why are we heading this way?" Sara asked. "Vegas is over there."

"Yeah." Molly said as they trudged on. "And this way cuts a day off of our travel time, plus it's safer."

Sara gave Molly a "WTF" look. "Safer?" she asked.

Molly nodded. "Uh huh. Vegas has a lot of people concentrated around it. The Fiends tend to stick to the outskirts, picking off the unwary. We'd be a massive target. And let's not even go into what Freeside would be like." she explained.

"Yeah, but the Fiends also wander around out here, too." Sara countered. "You know how chem deals we've did out here?"

"Quite a few." Molly replied. "I've even broke up a couple." she added, tapping the side of her head to show how she did that. "But the Fiends aren't out here in force like they are on the West Side of Vegas and near McCarren. And the Legion is kinda thin out here too because the Rangers are right over that ridge in Camp Golf."

Sara glanced at the ridge that Molly pointed at, made a face, and spit in the general direction of Camp Golf.

"So what are we gonna do when we need to bed down?" asked Sara.

"I'm sure we'll find a spot." Molly said. "In the meantime, keep your eyes open. Just because there is a reduced threat doesn't mean that there is _no_ threat."

"Duh." Sara said as she rolled her eyes.

Oo000ooo000oO

Molly's warning as anticlimactic, as the only dangerous things they ran into were a pair of Fiends arguing over a prospector they had ambushed, both of them easily dispatched by Boone and Molly with a pair of headshots.

They had gotten some decent loot out of it, considering the circumstances, but they did do the poor prospector the favor of digging him a grave with a marker before continuing on.

About an hour after that, they saw a small Radscorpion ahead of them scuttling along the road.

"I got it." Sara said as she unslung her rifle.

"You sure?" Molly asked. "That thing's a little light for a Radscorpion."

"You're not the only one who knows how to shoot, Fatass." Sara told her as she wrapped the sling around her forearm and crouched down. "Watch."

Opening the action of her rifle, Sara extracted the .223 hunting round that was in the chamber and clicked another round into the magazine, a black tipped pre- War round. Closing the bolt, she chambered the round and shouldered her weapon.

Molly looked through her binoculars at the Radscorpion that Sara was sighting in on.

"The wind's about 2-3 miles per hour, coming in directly on your left." Molly told her as she observed how the dust and the foliage around the Radscorpion moved.

"Thanks." Sara said, and shifted her aim accordingly.

Sara's rifle fired with a flat _crack_ of a muzzle report, and downrange Molly saw a jet of ocher spurt from the Radscorpion's body before it spasmed and collapsed.

"Nice shot." Molly observed as she lowered her binoculars. "Where'd you learn how shoot?"

"My dad taught me." Sara answered as she stood up and slung her rifle. "My mom taught me how butcher one of those things. You wanna see?"

Molly thought for a second. On one hand, she had learned long ago how to do just that out in California from a squatter. On the other hand, having Sara show them would be good for her sense of belonging to their group.

"Sure." Molly said. "Always good to what's edible out in the Wasteland."

"Ain't that the truth." Sara muttered. "Anyways, it tastes like ass, but it's better than nothing. First thing you do, you cut the stinger off..."

Oo000ooo000oO

Late that afternoon, they were nearing the junkie camp when Molly called for a halt.

"What is it?" Ami asked, seeing that Molly was looking at something on the ground. "You see something?"

"Yeah." Molly said. "Some one buried something."

Walking up to the patch of fresh turned earth, Molly knelt down and drew her knife and gently probed at it. The blade sank a couple of inches before hitting something solid. Poking around with it, she slipped it under whatever that was buried and lifted up with her knife.

It took little effort, but the object lifted up and the earth fell away from it, revealing it's identity.

A femur.

A _human_ femur.

Molly looked at the bone for few moments, frowned, and sheathed her knife. Unslinging her rifle, she sighted in the direction of the junkies camp where the light of a campfire could just be seen.

"Huh." she muttered, and then fired twice.

"What was that all about?" Ami asked as Molly got back to her feet.

"I think I know what happened to those two junkies we had to shoot." Molly said, and then gestured for them to follow her. "Let's go."

The group looked at each other, then followed after Molly. They were all wondering what was going on as they approached the camp. Lying on the ground were two people in tattered Brahman skin clothes, each with a .30 caliber bullet hole in their heads.

"Hey, Fatass, why'd you shoot them?" Sara asked, giving the body she was closest to a good kick.

"This." Molly said, stepping over to the fire and picking up something that was lying next to it.

"Oh." Sara said when she saw the severed forearm Molly was holding up.

"How... how could anyone _do_ that?" Ami asked.

"When you're hungry enough, you'd be surprised at what you'd do." Sara said. "I was never that hungry though..."

"Thank goodness." Ami said.

"Yeah." Sara said as she knelt down to search the body. "Let's see what these guys have for loot..."

Oo000ooo000oO

By the time they got near Nellis, the sun had dipped behind the mountains, blanketing them in shadows. As they walked down the road towards the gate, Molly saw movement out along the fence line and decided to take a look with her binoculars.

What she saw warmed her heart: a patrol of three Boomers was walking along the fence, keeping an eye on their perimeter.

"Hey, Boone." Molly said, handing her binoculars to him. "Take a look. On the fence, two hundred yards out, about ten o'clock."

Boone took the proffered optics and looked through them at where Molly had described them. "Huh." he said. "A patrol. Looks like your little lessons have taken effect."

"I hope so." Molly said as she took the binoculars back from Boone and used them to glass the tower. "And I think they have some people on that tower, too."

"It'll probably do wonders for their artillery spotting." Boone commented.

As if on cue, there was a distant _crump_ of a howitzer going off as soon as he finished speaking.

"You think that they're shooting at us?" Ami asked, a trace of nervousness in her voice.

"Nah." Molly said. "If they were going to shoot us, they would had us pegged before we got to the outskirts of the ruins, when we were out in the open."

"I wonder what they're shooting at?" Sara asked as a _thump_ echoed in the distance.

"Probably someone got too close" Molly mused. "From how faint it was, I think it was on the far side of their perimeter."

Sara grunted in reply and nothing else was said as they headed for the gate.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Halt! Who goes there?"

Molly resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the guard's challenge: Who else could have approached the front gate with a loaded Brahman and not gotten blown up by artillery fire?

Sara, on the other hand, suffered no such restrictions.

"Who the fuck do you think it is?" she snapped.

"Don't mind her." Molly said, neatly stepping in front of the Khan as Raquel came up to the gate. "We're back, and we're bringing those parts for the solar panels you needed."

"Oh, good." Raquel said, her tone saying on just how thrilled she was that the outsiders had returned. "I assume you'll be repairing them tomorrow?"

"That's the plan." Molly said. "Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to settle down for the night."

Raquel grunted and nodded at the gate guards, who unlatched the gates and swung them open. As they walked through them Molly saw Sara glance at the guard who had challenged them when they approached the gates.

"What?" Sara asked the guard. "You got a problem or something?"

"Yeah." the guard responded. "Do you normally insult someone who's carrying a rocket launcher?"

"No, normally I just shoot the motherfuckers." Sara responded back "But since we're supposed to be on the same side and all, I thought I'd try something different. What do you think?"

"It needs some work." the Boomer replied. Sara flipped him off.

"Is that really necessary?" Molly asked Sara as they walked away from the gate.

"It's the truth." Sara defended herself. "I don't do that sweet talking shit."

"So I've noticed." Molly said, making a mental note to swing by Raquel's CP and make nice with her. "Anyways, who want's to cook tonight?" she asked the group.

"I do!" Ami exclaimed, raising her hand.

"This ought to good." Sara muttered, just loud enough that Molly could hear. "Crazy Bitch cooking."

"Don't knock it." Molly told her. "She can make mutfruit taste good."

"How the fuck do you do _that_?" Sara asked incredulously.

"I don't know, but she does." Molly replied. "Trust me, you'll be wanting seconds."

"Oh, this I gotta see."

Oo000ooo000oO

After dinner Ami grabbed Molly and drug her off in the direction of the control tower for blatantly obvious reasons. Boone ignored them, preferring to sit in front of the fire and poke it with a stick while Sara watched them go.

"They're like two dogs in heat." Sara muttered as she watched them disappear into the darkness.

Boone grunted and poked the fire. "They enjoy it and they're adults." he pointed.

Sara said nothing in response as Boone's comment had gotten her to thinking. She tapped her forefinger on her thigh as she pondered what he had said, then chewed on her lip for a second before turning to face her companion.

"Hey, Boone, what's it like?" she asked.

"What's what like?" asked Boone back.

"Fucking for the fun of it."

Boone dropped his stick in surprise, He stared at the fire for a few moments before he could come up with something resembling a coherent answer.

"Ahhh... well, it's... this is a very difficult question to ask." he finally said.

"Why?" asked Sara. "You were married, right? You obviously know what it's like, that's why I'm asking _you_."

Boone swallowed nervously. "Ah, look, I'm _really_ not comfortable discussing this with you-" he began.

"So, show me." Sara said.

It didn't help that at precise moment Sara's vest had flapped open and Boone could see one bare breast, lit up by the fire light.

Boone didn't panic- he was First Recon, and they did not do something as mundane as _panic_ when faced with an impossible situation. They just took a shooting breath, aimed, and squeezed. That's what Boone told himself as he forced himself to look Sara in the eye and not look at any of hr lower anatomy.

"No." he told her. "I won't. You're a kid, and-"

Sara rolled her eyes in frustration and stood up. "Fuck this." she said. "I'm going for a walk. See you in a bit."

Boone watched as she walked off into the darkness and exhaled the breath that he had been holding. "That... was a close one, Craig." he told himself. "Very close."

Oo000ooo000oO

Fuming, Sara kicked a rock and sent it skipping across the ground and onto the tarmac where it clattered across the ancient, cracked, paving before coming to a stop.

"Stupid rock." Sara muttered as she stomped along.

Deciding to cut between the hangers, Sara went right and walked down them, head down and her hands in her pockets as she quietly seethed. And that's why she didn't see the young Boomer come stomping out of a doorway.

"GAH! What the fuck?" Sara said as she was jolted out of her seething when she collided with what felt like a brick wall.

"Hey, watch where you're going- you again?" the Boomer said as he got a look at who had ran into him.

"Oh, God..." Sara groaned. She recognized that voice- it belonged to the Boomer with the missile launcher at the gate. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going for a walk because my girlfriend just broke up with me because she's too good to give me a blowjob and I was taking a walk to calm down." snapped the Boomer "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I got shot down and I'm pissed about it, so I decided to do the same thing."answered Sara as she got back to her feet. "She broke up with you because you wanted a blow job?"

The Boomer scowled. "Yes." he growled. "She said it was 'unnatural', and that no one in their right mind would want to."

Sara arched an eyebrow and looked at the Boomer. "She sounds like a stone cold bitch. I think you're better off."

The Boomer grumbled and Sara was struck by an idea. "Hey." she said.

"What?"

Sara smirked and cocked her hip. "You know, now that you're not pointing a missile launcher at me, you're kinda cute. How about we go somewhere private and I give you that blow job- and you can a bunch of other things to me that she probably wouldn't do?"

The Boomer thought for a few moments. He was angry, horny, and tired of his ex- girlfriend's shit.

"Okay." he said. "I know a place."

Oo000ooo000oO

End.


	22. Chapter 23

Echoes of Eras Past

Oo000ooo000oO

A _Fallout: New Vegas_ fanfic

Oo000ooo000oO

Chapter 23

Oo000ooo000oO

Molly yawned and stretched as she came to in a dingy, dilapadated, room with boarded up windows. She was lying on the floor, with Ami lying next to her, wrapped in thier bedrolls. She blinked a couple of times as she stared at the motes of dust slowly dancing in the thin beams of light coming through the gaps in the boards nailed over the window, then propped herself up on one elbow to look around the room., careful not to disturb Ami as she slept.

Her rifle and a couple of spare magazines were lying next to her on her right, there was a desk shoved in front of the door to block it, and there was a purple pair of panties hanging from the ceiling fan.

_"Yep."_ Molly thought. _"That was a fun night."_

Especially since Ami had revealed a little project that she had been working on, and after puttign it on had used it ride her like an animal until Molly had begged her to stop.

_"That girl's got most stamina of anyone I've ever met."_ Molly thought as she caught a glimpse of the device lying next to Ami. _"Next time I get to wear it."_

Spying her canteen lying within easy reach, Molly shifted her position and sat up, then reached over and got it. After taking a healthy drink, she then tapped a control on her Pip Boy and the screen lit up.

_"Eight-oh-seven AM..._" she thought when she read the time in the upper right corner of the display. _"We had better get up. Got a lot of work to do today."_

Molly then turned her gaze to her purple-haired lover lying next to her and pondered on just how to wake her up. She smiled as an idea struck her.

Leaning over her, Molly gently planted her lips on Ami's. She moaned happily in her sleep as Molly kissed her, and her lips parted as Molly probed them gently with her tounge.

After several pleasurable moment's of exploring her lover's mouth, Ami's eyes fluttered open and Molly broke the kiss.

"Morning, lover." she said with a smile.

"Good morning." Ami responded sleepily. "This normally isn't what I have in mind for breakfast in bed, but it'll do..."

"Sorry, Ami. No time for that." Molly told her with a sigh. "It's almost ten after eight."

"Awww... not even a quickie?" Ami asked with a pout.

The pout made Molly reconsider and she thought it through for a few moments. "Okay." she said. "Maybe a quickie."

"Oooh!" Ami squealed as she glomped onto Molly.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Hand me a 5/8th's, would you?" Molly asked, holding her hand out.

"Here you go." Ami said as she slapped the box wrench into Molly's waiting palm.

"Thanks."

Putting the end of the wrench onto the nut, Molly began to tighten it down, and when it was in place they would be halfway through their repairs of the damaged solar panels. It wasn't hard work, thankfully- just compare the pieces that were damaged with the stuff they had scavenged from Helios One, and replace them.

And the icing of the proverbial cake was that it was mostly in the shade.

Molly was doing the wrenching and Ami, in between sitting in the shade and handing her tools, was letting hr ind wander.

"Molly." she asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Who was the first girl you kissed?"

Molly paused for second before she answered. "Francine Garret."

Ami turned around and gave Molly a surprised look. "_Her?_" she asked incredulously. "Just how long have you known her?"

"A long time." Molly answered. "Didn't I tell you me and her grew up together?"

"No." Ami said, shaking her head. "You didn't. I just knew that you were friends with her and her brother."

Molly nodded. "Yep. We grew up together on the coast."

"Huh." was Ami's response. "So she was the first, huh?"

"Yep."

In the long pause that followed that statement Molly went back to wrenching as Ami pondered what she had said. Right as Molly gave the nut one last twist Ami spoke again.

"So I assume that you two have slept together?" she asked.

Molly nodded as she put the wrench back into the tool roll and began gathering up tools so they could move onto the next panel.

"So what is she like?" Ami asked.

Molly paused for a second as she thought of the best way to put her answer. "She likes it one of two ways: Either you break her, or she breaks you." she explained.

"So I assume the dom, like you are with me?" Ami asked as she gathered up the parts.

Molly shook her head. "Nope. Surprisingly, she is."

"Really." Ami said, surprised at Molly's answer. "I would have thought you were the dom, since you are over me."

"Nope." she said again. "It's just the way it is with us. I can't really explain it."

"Huh." Ami said as they walked over to the next panel. "So, she's a big a freak as her brother?"

Molly nodded. "Oh, yeah." she said. "Hardcore."

Ami thought for a second. "So, do the rumors about her and her brother, are they true?" she asked.

"Sorta." Molly answered. "They do share the same bed, but that's it. They're not engaging in incest or anything like that."

"Oh." Ami said, then a question occurred to her. "Why do they share the same bed?" she asked.

"Because they're twins." Molly answered. "They've always been inseparable, even as kids. It's the way they are. Why are you asking me about this, anyways?"

Ami shrugged and set down the spares she was carrying. "I've told you about my firsts... I was just curious about yours. I mean, you're my girlfriend and all..."

"Oh." Molly said, then paused for a second. "Girlfriend... holy shit, we are... aren't we?"

Ami nodded. "Yep." she answered.

"When did that happen?" asked Molly as she started looking over the damaged panel.

Ami thought for a second. "I think was when we went from "random hookup" to actual lovemaking." she replied.

"Huh. You're right." Molly said after a moment's consideration. "I like the thought of that, having a girlfriend."

"Me too."

"Good. Now hand me a flat head screw driver, would ya?" Molly asked.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Well, that was productive." Molly observed as she and Ami ambled across the tarmac in the general direction of Pearl's barracks.

"And informative!" Ami added, then squinted and shaded her eyes with her hand. "Hey, someone's running towards us..."

"I see that." Molly said, squinting as she saw a Boomer running towards them, the heat mirage off of the tarmac making them look like they were running three feet off the ground. "Wonder what they want?"

"I'll go find out." Ami said.

"Ami, wait- dammit." Molly started to tell her to wait but Ami bolted before she could finish.

Molly gave a resigned sigh as she watched her purple haired girlfriend run over to the Boomer, talk to them, then come tearing back across the concrete to her.

"So, what do they want?" she asked as Ami came running up to her.

"He said that we have to get to Pearl's, there's been an incident." Ami responded.

"An incident?" Molly asked. "What kind of 'incident'?"

Ami shrugged. "Dunno." she answered. "All they said was that Sara was involved-"

"Oh, God." Molly groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I hope she didn't start another fight."

"Well, we'll find out when we get there." Ami pointed out as they picked up their pace.

"Yeah."

Oo000ooo000oO

"Yeah, it was a fight." Molly said as they came up to Pearl's barracks and the sound of two teenaged girls engaged in a knock down, drag out, screaming match could be heard coming through the door.

"Did we bring ear plugs?" Ami asked.

"No." Molly said with a groan. "And I wish we had, right about now."

Gritting her teeth, Molly opened the door.

Inside, she found Sara and a Boomer girl facing off against each other in Pearl's living room. The Boomer girl was on the left, and Sara was on the right. Raquel and Boone had hold of the girls to keep them from going at each other, which judging by the looks of the two of them, had already happened before with the Boomer girl getting the worst end of the stick.

"Okay, what's going-" Molly started to say but her words were drowned out by the tidal wave of screaming coming from the two girls.

"-YOU LITTLE CUNT-"

"-STOLE MY BOYFRIEND-"

"-BITCH!"

"-FRIGID-"

Faced with a seemingly impassible obstacle, resorted to a technique employed by non-commissioned men since well before the days of Julius Ceaser.

"_**QUIET!**_" Molly bellowed, instantly silencing the two girls. "Now just what the _hell_ is going on here?"

"I can answer that for you, Outsider." Pearl told her, speaking before either girl could. "What happened was that Betty-" she gestured at the Boomer girl "- got into an argument with her boyfriend and broke up with him. And when your friend Sara here met him, she propositioned him, and he was all too happy to accept.

Betty has apparently took offense to that, and tried to beat up Sara. Thankfully, Boone and Raquel here were able to break them up before Sara was able to cause her too much embarrassment."

"I see." Molly observed. "Good thing Boone and Raquel were there."

"Indeed." Pearl agreed dryly. "Now the only question is how we're going to resolve this-"

"Elder, the outsider stole my boyfriend-"

"Who was not your boyfriend, because you had broken up with him." Pearl admonished Betty. "So it's hardly her fault that he acted that way."

"Yeah." Sara said. "And after I gave him the blow job you wouldn't give him, I let him stick it in my ass. He said that's something else a prim and proper little bitch like you wouldn't do."

"YOU _**BITCH-!**_" Betty started to shriek but Raquel clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Can it, Splendens." she growled at the irate Boomer girl. "You're in enough trouble already."

Sara smirked as Betty cowered under the glare of the Master-at-Arms.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Sara." Molly snapped. "Just because you're in the right this time doesn't mean that you're free to go cause trouble."

Sara rolled her eyes but did what she was told, which was probably the best case scenario with what could happen with her in Molly's book.

"As I was saying..." Pearl continued, picking up where she had left off "We need to find a way to resolve this."

"Well, my opinion is a lot like yours. Sara here didn't really do anything wrong." Molly pointed out. "The guy was a free agent, she propositioned him and it was _his_ decision to accept her offer. _And_ it was Ms Betty here who started the fight.

However, we're the outsiders here, and it's your show, so you get to make the call."

Pearl nodded as Molly ticked of her points. "You are correct, outsider." she said. "However, in this case it was a member of your party who was wronged, so what would _you _suggest?"

Molly looked at Betty for several moments and thought it over. "Well..." she began "In the NCR, if one of our troopers had did this, they probably would have gotten a reduction in grade, three weeks bread and water rations, and put on KP or latrines duty as well.

In her case, I assume you guys are clearing out the garbage that's in the control tower and such?"

Pearl nodded.

"Okay, in that case, put her on that, along with general garbage detail, and latrines, for a month." Molly suggested, getting a muffled outraged shriek from Betty.

"Would you rather I suggest it be two?" Molly asked her.

Betty shook her head.

"An excellent idea, outsider." Pearl said, and fixed Betty with an authoritative look. "You'll begin your punishment tomorrow. Now go get something to eat and get some sleep. You'll be needing it."

Raquel released Betty and she stalked out, shaking with rage, without saying a word. Raquel watched her go, then turned to Pearl.

"Thank you, Pearl." she said. "If yo have nothing that requires my attention, I'll be going now."

"Go, Raquel." Pearl told her Master-at-Arms. "And thank you."

Raquel clicked her heels together and strode purposefully out of the room. When she was gone Pearl turned her attention back to Molly and her group.

"Now that's taken care of, do you have anything to report?" she asked.

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said. "We got your solar panels fixed."

Pearl's face cracked into a smile. "Good." she said. "Now why don't you go talk to Loyal and ask about our fondest dream."

"Okay." Molly said. "You guys want to come with?" she asked Boone and Sara.

"Hey, go with you, stay here and get held by Boone, either way works for me." Sara quipped.

Boone suddenly got very flustered as he realized that he still had his arm wrapped right across Sara's chest and let go of her like she was radioactive.

"Aww..." Sara said, disappointed.

"I- I wouldn't mind." Boone said, desperately trying to keep his mind off where his arm had been.

"Okay then." Molly said. "Lets go."

Oo000ooo000oO

Loyal was sitting at a workbench in the hanger tinkering with a piece of equipment when the door opened and Molly came striding in with the rest of her party right behind her.

"Excuse me." Molly said as she came up to him. "Pearl said that we should come and talk to you about the Boomers fondest dream?"

Loyal looked up from what he was working on and smiled.

"Ah, yes." he said. "Pearl set word to me that I was to talk to you about the Lady in the Water."

"Lady in the Water?" Molly asked. "Who or what is that?"

Loyal pointed to the wreckage of a B-29 that took up most of the available floorspace in the hanger.

"A long time ago- long before the war that killed just about everything that ever lived- a bomber crashed not far from here."

"What's a bomber?" Ami interrupted.

"A bomber is a flying contraption that dropped bombs on people." Loyal explained to her. "But, anyways, moving on, this bomber crashed in to Lake Mead pretty damn near intact. When we got to Nellis, see, I found this article in a magazine all about it.

There was another B-29 round here, part of a museum. Couldn't fly, but had a lot of spare parts on it, see? Get where I'm going?"

"I have a pretty good idea." Molly said.

"Since I was a young man, I've dreamed of raising that Lady from the lake and bringing her back to life. What do you say?"

"It sound's interesting." Molly admitted. "But how are you gonna raise it off the lake bed?"

"Simple! Attach deployable ballast to the plane and float it on up." Loyal told her.

"And I take it that you have a means to do just that?" Molly asked.

Loyal nodded "Yep. Wait here." he said before disappearing into the hangar's storage area.

Molly and her party stood around and waited for a few moments until Loyal came back lugging two large duffel bags and a wireless detonator.

"Whipped these up a few years ago." he said, dropping them at Molly's feet. "Any other questions?"

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said. "Lake Mead's pretty deep. We're gonna need scuba gear."

"Don't have any of that, sadly." Loyal told her, then his brows furrowed in thought for a moment. "Though I think I remember Jack mentioning working on something. You might want to go talk to him."

Molly nodded and picked up one of the bags, Ami getting the other. "You know where he might be?"

"Last I saw of him, he was sneaking off with that pretty little redhead of his." Loyal told her. "So I'd go looking for someplace quiet and secluded."

"Ah, right." Molly said. "Looks like we're going to have to do a closet to closet search."

"Oooh, I know exactly what to look for!" Ami said, raising her hand. "I'm good at finding places to make out!"

"And Ami can have the lead on this." Molly said. "Thank you, Loyal."

"No, thank _you_." Loyal told her.

Molly flashed Loyal a smile and gave Ami a pat on the shoulder. "Alright, Ami, you've got the lead."

Ami thought for a moment, licked her finger and held it up in the air. "That way." she said, pointing at one of the doors.

"Lead on, Ami."

Oo000ooo000oO

"This is fucking stupid."

"Hush." Molly said as her, Boone, and Sara watched Ami rooted through the lower levels of the control tower in search of Jack and Janet. "Let Ami do her thing."

"I could do it better." protested Sara.

"Yeah." Molly agreed. "But Ami isn't following a trail. She's looking for a place-"

"Ssssh!" Ami shushed them, waving her arm at them. "I hear something."

They fell silent as Ami listened intently for a few seconds, then pointed down a hallway.

"That way." she said.

"I don't hear anything." Sara said, cocking her head to one side as they started walking down the hall. "You sure it's not in your head, Crazy Bitch?"

Ami was too focused on homing in on to what she was hearing to respond, so Molly came to her defense.

"Trust me, kid, if Ami says she hears something, then she hears something." she said.

"But what if it's in her head?" Sara asked.

"It's not in her head." Molly told her, neglecting to mention that she'd picked up the sound of a couple rounding second base well before Ami had.

"_Good thing Ami has better than average hearing." _Molly observed. _"Otherwise I would have had to figure out a way to get u in this direction and not call attention to my upgrades."_

"Well I say it's- wait." Sara stopped as a muffled giggle came floating down the hall. "Fucking hell. She wasn't hearing things."

"Told you." Molly said.

They followed the hall for it's full length, the sounds of giggling and muffled movement getting louder until they came to a set of double doors at the end of the hall.

"You know, we should wait until they're finished." Ami said as they stood there staring at the doors. "It would be the polite thing to do."

Sara scowled at the purple haired girl's suggestion. "But I'm hungry. And I don't want to wait around while some guy gets his rocks off when I could be eating."

"I have some jerky." Ami offered. "It's made using my grandma's recipe."

"I'll handle it." Molly said before Sara could say something caustic in response.

Stepping forward, Molly knocked on the doors.

"Go away, it's occupied!" Jack yelled from the other side.

"Hey, Jack, it's Molly the outsider." Molly responded. "Loyal told me to talk to you."

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy here." Jack said with some irritation and a giggle from Janet.

"It'll just take a second." Molly told him. "My crew and I have been tasked with getting the Lady up from the bottom of the lake. Loyal said that you had something that would help with that."

"Oh." Jack said. "It might. My workbench, in the bottom cupboard is a re-breather that I've been working on. It's almost complete, it jut needs the seals from a pressure cooker to get it to work."

"Oh, okay." Molly said. "Thanks. You and your lady friend go back to what you were doing, we'll be going."

"Fucking finally." Sara muttered.

Oo000ooo000oO

"So, just how are you gonna fix that thing?" Ami asked.

"Well..." Molly said, shifting the re-breather so she could see it in the firelight "I was thinking we could check that shack that's under the overpass on the way here. If there isn't one in there, we'll have to make a detour to Vegas and pick one up there."

"Oh." Ami said and checked the pot. "There's a little bit of stew left. Anybody want it?"

"I'll take it." Sara said holding up her plate.

"Where do you put all of it?" Ami asked as she took Sara's plate and began to ladle the last of the evening's stew onto it. "If I ate as much as you, it'd all go straight to my hips."

Sara gave a lopsided shrug as Ami handed the plate back to her. "Dunno." she said "I don't see what the big deal is. It's food. If you can get it, eat it. Besides, you might be a crazy -assed bitch, but you can cook."

"Thank you!" Ami said, accepting the grudging compliment from Sara.

Pausing to take a swig from her canteen, Molly looked out into the darkness, where Lake Mead lay to the southwest of their position.

"You hear something?" Ami asked her.

"No." Molly said. "Just thinking about the lake, and how I'm gonna get past the Lakelirks."

"MMMmh!" Sara said, holding up her hand as she swallowed a mouthful of food. "I know a trick." she said.

"Really." Molly said, turning her attention to the Khan. "Do tell."

"Take some Broc flowers and some sagebrush, smash 'em a little between two rocks, then put that into a cloth pouch about the size of you fist and tie it your ankle. They can't stand the smell and stay away from you."

"I did not know that." Molly said.

"Yeah." Sara said. "We do it all the time whenever we want to go for a swim."

"Clever." Molly said.

"That is clever." Ami agreed. "How did you figure that out?"

Sara shrugged. "Dunno. My mom's the one who taught it to me. She learned it from her parents. Dunno where the hell they learned it from."

"In any case, thank you Sara." Molly said as she put the re-breather down. "That's gonna make my swim a _lot_ easier."

"Whatever, Fatass." Sara said. "I'm just looking forward to going for a swim. It's been a while since I was at the lake."

"And speaking of that, we're gonna need our sleep if we're gonna leave at first light tomorrow." Molly said as lay back on her bedroll. "So we should all get some sleep."

"I'll be coming to bed in a bit." Ami told her as she pulled a blanket over herself. "I gotta take care of a couple of things."

"Okay." Molly said. "G'night Ami."

"Night Molly."

"Sweet dreams, Fatass."

"Good night, Sara."

Oo000ooo000oO

By the time that the sun had cleared the horizon, Molly and her party had broken camp, loaded up their Brahman (Now named Suzanne by Ami for reasons only understood by her) and were headed for the front gate.

There was a crowd of Boomers there, milling around in the early morning light. Molly recognized a few of the faces there- Jack and Janet, Loyal and Pearl. She also spotted the ex-girlfriend of the Boomer that Sara had gotten into a fight with. The Khan saw too, and when they made eye contact Sara gave her a grin.

"Looks like we got us a fan club." Molly murmured to Boone as they approached the gate.

"I see that." Boone grunted.

Molly cracked a grin at Boone's lack of enthusiasm. "Careful, Boone." she said. "You wouldn't want to disappoint your fans by being grumpy."

Boone merely grunted in reply.

Sara, meanwhile, saw another familiar face in the crowd and her expression turned mischievous.

"Hey, Fatass, don't go any where." she said.

"Why?" Molly asked her. "What are you doing?"

"Gonna have me a little fun." Sara responded.

"Sara, wait-!" Molly called out but was too late as Sara walked away. "Dammit, what's that kid gonna do now-?"

"She's going to do something..." said Boone as he watched her thread her way through the crowd.

"The question is what." Molly said.

"Well, whatever it is, I think it has something to with Betty." Ami pointed out as Sara walked past the girl in question and headed for a young Boomer with a rocket launcher.

"Oh, fuck." Molly said.

Molly, Boone, and Ami braced themselves for fireworks as Sara walked up the Boomer, whispered something in his ear, and gave him a kiss. She then walked back to her group, licking her lips as she walked past Betty who was turning purple with rage.

"So what was that all about?" Molly asked Sara when she rejoined the group.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell him that he could do a hell of a lot better than her." explained Sara.

"And the kiss?"

Sara shrugged. "I wanted to tweak Bitchy Betty, and, he's a _really_ good kisser." she explained "You would not believe what he can do with his tongue."

"Oh, really?" Ami asked. "What does he do-"

"Ami, kids." Molly chided her, noting the pack of little Boomers that were a little too close to hearing range for her comfort.

"We can talk about this later." Ami told Sara.

"Okay, whatever, Crazy Bitch." Sara said.

"Thank you, Outsider." Pearl said as they approached the gate. "For everything."

Molly shrugged. "It's the right thing to do."

"And it's greatly appreciated." Pearl told her. "Again, thank you."

"All in a days work."Molly said. "And now we're off."

"Good luck." Pearl told her as they walked through the gate and out into the Wasteland

Oo000oo000oO

End.


	23. Chapter 24

Echoes of Era's Past

Oo000oo000oO

Chapter Twenty Four

Oo000oo000oO

The first stop the party made was at that shack underneath the ruined overpass that Molly had mentioned back at the campfire.

"Oh, _this_ place." Sara said as they rounded the base of the cliff and the shack came into view.

"You know it?" Molly asked the Khan as they approached the shack.

Sara nodded. "Yeah. Us Khan's, we use it a rest stop when we're out this way."

"I see." Molly said. "You guy cache anything here?"

Sara shook her head. "Nah. Too obvious a spot. We prefer out of the way places or something that can be secured, like a cave."

"Ahhh." Molly said with a nod. "You remember if there's a pressure cooker in there?"

Sara shrugged. "Not really. Usually the only time I was in there was to sleep or if I had to bang someone."

Molly was silent for a moment before she responded. "Sara..." she asked. "Just how often did you prostitute yourself?"

Sara shrugged. "Enough to get by when I couldn't scavenge enough." she replied. "Why do you ask, Fatass?"

"Because, it seems to occur a lot from what you've mentioned about your past." Molly explained.

"Oh. Well, I wasn't planning on doing it for a living, if that's what you're asking." Sara explained as they came up to the shack. "The caps are shit. Only reason why I was doing it was because I was hungry."

"I have a cousin who does that." Ami not so helpfully interjected into the conversation. "She set up a tent at a spring that's about two days travel from the NCR border on the 15 and offered food and fucks to the caravaners walking that route. Last time I saw her she was hiring on more girls and setting up a secure compound for the caravaners to rest."

"Not helping, Ami." Molly said as Sara gave her an odd look.

"Actually, it relates to what what you just said." Ami continued.

"How?" Molly asked.

"The only way my cousin made any kind of decent caps from the fucking side of the business was through volume. Thankfully, there was a lot of demand."

"Just what kind of fucked up family do you _have_, Crazy Bitch?" Sara asked of Ami.

"We're not _that_ weird..." Ami said defensively. "Well, except for Cousin Tim. He only like girls and thinks that it's odd when the corn explodes."

"Okay." Sara said, turning her attention to Molly "I don't want to hear any more about who I bang when you willingly fuck Crazy Bitch over there."

"The only thing I have a problem with is the prostitution." Molly responded. "That's it. I have no problem with you picking up a one night stand, like you did with that Boomer."

"Okay then." Sara said and looked at the shack. "Now that we got that worked out, lets see if this place has what you're looking for."

"Hopefully, it does." Molly said as she unslung her rifle and everybody else in the party did the same.

She walked up to the door and put her ear to the wall and listened for a few moments, not hearing anything. Looking back behind her, she motioned for Ami to come up behind her and for Boone to stay put.

Molly then grabbed the door handle and gave it an experimental twist. It turned freely. She glanced back at Ami, who nodded. Snapping on the light on her Pip Boy, she then twisted the handle fully and pushed the shack door open while stepping through the doorway in one smooth motion.

Inside it took them all of ten seconds to find that the shack was empty in an anticlimax to the tension that had built up before they made entry. Sighing in relief, Moll let her rifle drop onto it's sling and stepped back to the door way.

"It's clear." she called out.

"You find what you were looking for?" Sara asked.

"Haven't looked yet." Molly answered. "You and Boone keep watch while Ami and I look."

"Okay, Fatass." Sara said as she turned around and began to scan their immediate area.

Molly and Ami's search of the shack turned up an Abilene id BB gun with ammo, five 7.62mm round, twenty 10mm and three 5.56 from some ammo cans that were inside, a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star bottle cap, and what they had came there to get: A pressure cooker, sitting in a small wooden box next to the stove.

"Jack pot." Molly said as she dropped it on the chipped and battered Formica table.

A few minutes work later and she had the seals she needed from it and they were out the door.

"Okay." she said as they walked out. "I got what we needed. Anything happen out here?"

Boone grunted. "There's a couple of junkies out by that campsite we passed by coming in and out of." he said. "But that's it."

"They look like a threat?" Molly asked.

"No obvious weapons, so if we keep our distance we should be fine." Boone replied.

Molly nodded. "Okay. Lets mount up. Where we need to be on the lake shore is a long ways from here and I'd like to make some good time today." she said.

"I wonder why junkies keep coming out here?" Ami wondered as they started walking, her gaze in the direction of the campsite.

"Maybe they just want a quiet place to fuck." was Sara's response.

Oo000oo000oO

"Now _that's_ a nice pair of asses."

Sara glanced at Ami, who was looking at Boone and Molly, who were standing on a rise looking through binoculars as they discussed something. She spent a moment considering their posteriors, then gave a half shrug.

"Boone, yeah. Fatass, no." she said.

Ami gave Sara a look. "Molly has a wonderful, well shaped, ass that's toned but still has a nice jiggle when you slap it." she protested, getting an odd look from Sara. "What? You slapped a girl's ass?"

Sara shook her head slowly. "No..." she said. "I generally prefer men."

"Well, then you don't know what you're missing then." Ami told her. "Find the right woman and you'll see what I mean."

"Yeah, whatever you say, Crazy Bitch." Sara said as she looked around at their surroundings, looking for threats.

"No, I'm serious!" Ami said, pressing on with the subject. "You just need to find the right girl, probably

a sub, by your personality."

"What the hell is a sub?" Sara asked as she scrutinized a patch of brush.

"Short for submissive." Ami explained. "Some aspects of sexuality are dominant or submissive, which means that some people get of on being either dominant or submissive. Not everyone, of course. Some people aren't wired that way, some people like to switch, like Molly and I do."

"Didn't want to hear that, Crazy Bitch."

"It's important to know." Ami insisted.

"Why?" was Sara's response as she moved on from the bushes.

"Because if you don't know what gets you off, it'll affect the rest of your life." Ami explained.

Sara paused in her visual scan of their surroundings to look at Ami again. "Look, Crazy Bitch, I got raped for the first time when I was thirteen, a week after my parents were killed. I got a lot bigger problems than figuring out who I want to fuck, okay?"

Ami was silent for a moment, then without a word hugged her. The Khan went stiff as a board as Ami's arms encircled her, and she looked down at them in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tight, but confused.

"Giving you a hug." Ami told her.

"Why?"

"Because you're a good person, who's had a lot bad things happen to you that isn't your fault." Ami explained.

"Oh."

Oo000oo000oO

"Don't look, but Sara's getting some human affection from Ami." Molly said in a low voice to Boone.

The sniper turned his head just enough to peek out of the corner of his eye at the pair standing by Suzanne and grunted.

"Sara doesn't look like she's enjoying it much." he commented.

"She's not used to it." Molly pointed out. "But she needs it. Anyways- on to more pressing matters, what do you think we should do about our current problem?"

Boone frowned and took the binoculars from Molly and trained them on a far hillside where there was a group of deathclaws milling about.

"Well..." he began "If we didn't have your friend and Sara, plus our Brahman to worry about, I'd say we could go to that hill nearby and just pop them with the anti material rifle. But, since these are deathclaws, that means that they are very hard to kill, and very smart.

And if they figure out where they're being fired on from- which they have a disconcerting habit of doing- then they'd charge us."

"Yep." Molly agreed. "And while Ami could handle herself and is properly armed for deathclaws, what Sara's packing, the only thing it would do is piss them off."

"Agreed. We should just make a ninety degree turn and head so we're downwind of them." suggested Boone.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Molly agreed.

Turning around, they both walked down the rise to where the rest of the party waited.

"So, what's got you two all riled up?" Sara asked as they approached.

"Deathclaws." Molly answered. "A whole nest's worth of them."

"Gaaah..." was Sara's response as she and Ami cringed at the mention of the bipedal killing machines. "So what are doing?"

"We're going _that_ way." Molly said, pointing in a direction that was ninety degrees from the bearing in which they had been traveling.

"Good idea." Sara said as Ami took Suzanne's lead and began to guide her "Putting us down wind with as much distance as possible."

"Yep." Molly said. Thankfully, we got a few hours yet before sundown, so we should be able to put a good chunk of land between us and them."

"Hopefully." echoed Sara.

Oo000oo000oO

Their evasion of the Deathclaw nest proved to be anticlimactic, much to the entire party's relief. After an hours walking the nest was safely behind them and they resumed their original course.

"Hey, Fatass, wait up." Sara called suddenly.

"What is it, kid?" Molly asked as the party came to a halt.

"I need to check something." Sara said as she dropped her pack.

"What?" Molly asked.

"Gimme a sec, would ya?" Sara replied as she started climbing up a large boulder.

Puzzled by Sara's odd behavior, Molly unslung her rifle and started scanning their immediate surroundings as Boone did the same. Sara, meanwhile, had climbed to the top of the boulder and was scanning the horizon.

Ami, meanwhile, talked to Suzanne.

"I knew it." Sara said after a minute.

"You knew what?" asked Molly.

"That the terrain was getting familiar. Bitter Springs is about a days travel that a way." Sara explained, pointing off to the horizon where there was a blob of a ridge line.

"I could have told you that." Molly pointed out, holding up her Pip Boy.

"Yeah." Sara said as she jumped off the edge of the boulder. "But does that thing know where there's a shortcut to where we need to go, and where there's a place we can set up camp for the night?"

"No." Molly admitted. "I take you do?"

Sara grinned as she picked up her pack. "Yeah. This is my old stomping grounds, Fatass. I know this place like the back of my hand."

"Good." Molly said. "Lead the way, kid."

"Okay." Sara said. "Follow me. I'll how you how it's done."

Molly smiled to herself as Sara struck out into the brush, something that did not go unnoticed by Boone.

"Hey." he asked her as they navigated around the boulder. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Molly replied. "I'm just happy at what I'm seeing with Sara, that's all."

"You mean how she's being part of the group?" Boone asked.

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said.

"It is good to see." Boone said with grunt.

"_Now I just gotta work on you, Mr Boone."_Molly thought as she held back a branch for Ami and Suzanne. 

Oo000oo000oO

Ahead of her Molly saw Sara freeze and she held up her had in to signal a stop the rest of their party as Sara turned to her and put her fingers to her lips to signal silence. Molly unslung her rifle and bent down on one knee in a resting position as Sara peered through the brush at whatever it was that had made her stop.

After a couple of minutes she looked back at Molly and signaled for her come up. Getting up into a low crouch, she picked her way through the brush to where Sara was, making sure to be as quiet as someone like her should be but not ghost through it like it wasn't even there.

"What is it, kid?" Molly whispered to the girl when she got up to her.

"That spot I told about is right ahead." Sara whispered back.

"Okay." Molly said. "What's wrong?"

"There's a Legion patrol camped out in it." Sara explained. "Looks like a senior guy and a bunch of kids. I counted maybe four, so I probably missed a couple."

Carefully, Molly shouldered her rifle and used her scope to scan the campsite. It was set into a hollow created by a pile of large boulders. In said campsite was a centurion, along with three other boys about Sara's age, perhaps a little younger.

One of the boys was tending the fire while the other two were watching as the centurion instructed them on something. As she watched, the one tending the fire looked up and off to the side. Panning the scope over, she saw the two that Sara figured she had missed come walking up.

They approached their CO and the taller of the two made a short report, then they went and sat down next to the fire. Satisfied that was all of them, Molly swept her scope over the surrounding area and got a feel for the layout of the place, then lowered her rifle.

"Well?" Sara asked.

Molly thought for a few seconds, considering her options, then a battle plan formed in her mind.

"We can take them." she said, still whispering. "You, me, and Boone."

"What about the Crazy Bitch?" Sara whispered.

"She's going to watch the Brahman." Molly explained. "I got the Centurion, since he's the most dangerous, along with his two bookends. You can take those three by the fire, and Boone can pop anyone who tries to make run for it.

Hit the one tending the fire first, and only after I shoot, got it?"

Sara nodded and unslung her varmint rifle as Molly signaled to the other two members of their party. Boone was with them shortly and filled in on what the plan was and took position, resting his rifle on a tree branch.

Molly, on the other hand, sat down on the ground cross legged and extended the bipod on her rifle, resting it on a handy large rock while Sara took a kneeling position with her rifle.

"Ready?" Molly asked.

"Yeah." Sara whispered as Boone grunted softly.

"Okay. Here we go."

Sighting through her scope, Molly aimed at the Centurion. She figured the range was just under a hundred yards, so she placed the cross hairs just a hair under where his head and his neck met. Taking her shooting breath, Molly held it as she caressed the trigger of her rifle with her index finger.

The sear broke with it's usual crispness, and the rifle bucked with a muffled crack as the side of the Centurion's head exploded in a splatter of red. His two trainees had just started to register that something was wrong as Molly swung the cross hairs over onto the closest one and pulled the trigger again. Again, it bucked with a muffled crack and the back of the trainee's head exploded as the bullet caught him just below the right eye.

To her left Molly heard the snap -crack of Sara's varmint rifle as she fired and she swung the cross hairs over and slightly up as he was starting to rise in reaction to her previous two shots. Her rifle bucked again and the trainee caught a bullet in the mouth, flopping back over dead as Sara fired again and Boone's rifle made one quiet report.

The world snapped back into place and Molly lifted her head to survey the campsite. Before her were five dead Legionaries and one bleeding out. The whole attack had taken less five seconds but had gone off flawlessly, and she couldn't help but grin.

Sara, on the other hand, was irritated.

"Fuck!" she swore, standing up and cycling the bolt on her rifle.

"What's the problem?" Molly asked as she got up.

"That second guy I shot ain't dead." Sara snarled.

"So shoot him again." Boone told her.

"And waste a bullet? Fuck that." Sara retorted as she flipped the safety on her rifle and slung it. "I'm gonna slit his throat."

"Boone, cover her." Molly told her fellow sniper as Sara walked towards the campsite.

"Ami, you can come up now." Molly yelled back at where her girlfriend was watching Suzanne.

"Okay..." Ami's voice called back.

When looked back, Molly saw that Sara had pulled a small fixed blade knife from somewhere and was striding towards the downed Legionnaire, who was doing his damnedest to crawl towards the Centurion's submachinegun.

"Where the fuck do you think you're goin'?" Sara asked as she stepped over him so she was standing astride him.

"F-fuck... off...profligate... scum..." the Legionnaire choked out as he strained in vain for the subgun lying a few feet out of reach.

"If anyone's gonna be fucking off, it's _you_ fuckhead. So why don't you do that and _**die!**_" Sara retorted, punctuating the last part of her statement by stabbing the Legionnaire in the neck.

The Legionnaire gave a gurgling scream as Sara's blade sank home, and he tried to fend her off. Unfortunately, he was too badly wounded and Sara had too good of a position over him and she was able to stab him a couple of more times before he spasmed and went still.

"Fucker." Sara spit and stood up.

Giving his corpse a couple of good kicks, Sara then went to where the patrol had piled their packs.

"Boy, she wanted him dead, didn't she?" Molly asked Boone.

Boone grunted.

Oo000oo000oO

All told they got a pretty good amount of supplies from the Legion patrol, which combined with the supplies from the Khan cache that Sara opened up meant that they weren't going to be needing to stock up any time soon.

Ami got dinner started while Molly sat down next to the fire with a pile of the patrol members effects, seeing if she could glean anything useful from them. Boone was opposite her, quietly cleaning his rifle and looking pensive.

And Sara was sitting off to the side with a bottle of brandy she had liberated from the cache.

"Don't get too much into that." Molly warned her. "We gotta get going early in the morning."

"I won't." Sara assured her. "Walking the trail with a hangover is shit."

"Just making sure." Molly said as she picked up a leather bound book tied with a cord.

"What's that?" Sara asked her as she undid the cord.

"This..." Molly explained, holding up the book for emphasis "Is one those Legionaries journal. I'm gonna take a look through it and see if there is anything interesting."

"It's probably just stories of all the guys he's fucked." Sara commented.

"If it is, I want to read it." Ami said. "It's been ages since I've had gay porn."

Sara arched an eyebrow at the purple haired girl. "You're weird, you know that, Crazy Bitch?"

"I prefer to think of it as having extremely varied tastes." Ami responded.

"Whatever."

Molly ignored them as she read the journal. Most of it was pretty boring- talk about his days, the various interpersonal dramas that arise in any group of people, men and the occasional woman he'd fucked.

There was also talk about the whispers of the Burned Man, and his concerns about how it would affect the morale of the younger men. Then something caught her eye- it was a passage about a letter from a friend of his.

"_In his latest letter to me, Aelius mentioned hearing the most ridiculous thing: The Scourge. Supposedly it's a woman in power armor, riding around in a Pre War truck with her brother and his friend, destroying all who oppose them._

_I would think that it was a ridiculous thing too, if I had not heard it whispered here, in Ceaser's camp, and heard of outposts east of us destroyed and patrols disappearing._

_While the thought of three people riding around the Mojave in a pre War truck is nonsense, the fact that no one has heard from Flagstaff in well over a month, and the fact that Legate Lanius is overdue are most troubling-"_

"Huh." Molly mused as she read the journal "Hey, Boone."

Boone looked up from what he was doing. "What?" he asked.

"It worked." Molly told him "The thing at Repconn."

"Oh. Good." the sniper said, and went back to cleaning his weapon.

Molly looked at the journal again and tapped the line about the Scourge. The description of the trio made her think of something that Moira had mentioned to her the last time she had went through Reno and Molly wanted to get her opinion on whether or not they were the same group.

Of course, in this case it would require her to ask Francine to courier a letter to Moira's shop, and have her courier her response back to the Atomic Wrangler. It was a very roundabout way to do it, but it was the only way she could do it and not have her party wonder why they made the long detour to Reno.

Archiving that train of thought for later, Molly read on.

Oo000oo000oO

They rose early the next morning, Molly being the first, followed by Ami, then Boone, and finally, Sara. Ami was the one who drew the short straw, and she was about to poke Sara with a long stick when she roused on her own.

"Oh, you're up."

Squinting against the morning light, Sara shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at Ami.

"What the fuck do you want, Crazy Bitch?" she growled.

"It's time to get up." Ami informed her, then held out a tin plate with food and a steaming cup on it. "Breakfast?"

Sara blinked a couple of times as her sleep-drunk brain processed the preceding conversation, then she took the plate from Ami.

"Thanks." she muttered.

"You're welcome! There's plenty if you want seconds." Ami said before heading back to the fire.

Molly drained her cup and nudged Boone with the toe of her boot. "Hey, Boone." she said.

"Yeah?" Boone asked.

"I think I just saw a miracle happen." Molly told him.

Boone looked up from his breakfast at her. "What happened?" he asked.

"Sara just said 'thank you' to Ami when she handed her breakfast." Molly said as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

"Wow." was Boone's reaction before he went back to his breakfast.

" _'Wow', indeed, Mr Boone."_ Molly thought as she sipped her coffee. _"That wasn't the only miracle that happened. I keep this up, you both might actually pass as human."_

Oo000oo000oO

END.

Author's note: Man, working two jobs _really_ puts a dent in your free time...


	24. Chapter 25

Echoes of Eras Past

Oo000ooo000oO

Chapter Twenty Five

Oo000ooo000oO

They reached Lake Meade by mid morning and headed south, following the shoreline. Conversation was kept to a minimum due to the fact that the path they were taking would bring them in the general vicinity of Bitter Springs, and there were a _lot_ of bad memories and old wounds for two members of their party.

Another reason for their general silence was the fact that they were keeping an eye out for Lakelurks and Legion patrols. Thankfully, they ran into neither as they walked along.

What they _did_ run into was a seemingly abandoned homestead near the Bitter Springs Recreational Area.

"I don't remember this place." Sara said as they approached it.

"It's been a couple of years." Molly pointed out.

Sara nodded and pointed around the camp. "Yeah, but this place looks like it's been here a while." she said. "If it had been here, we would have been using it."

"Maybe you guys just didn't find it." Ami suggested from the back.

"We would have noticed this place." Sara shot back. "Someplace like this? We could have used it as a cache or something."

While this was going on, Molly glanced at her Pip Boy and saw that it was almost noon. "In any case, it's almost noon and we could all use a break." she said. "Lets stop here, eat, and get a rest in before we push on."

"Okay." Sara said as she surveyed the camp. "You guys do your thing. I'm gonna give this place a once over, see if there's anything worth scavving."

"Don't go too far." Molly called after her.

"Yeah, yeah."

Oo000ooo000oO

Walking around the homestead, Sara took note of how it was laid out: Two Pre War travel trailers shoved up against each other so that the doors to them were blocked, with a chimney stuck through the roof of one of them. On the side facing in the direction of Bitter Springs a lean-to had been constructed, with a few boxes stacked up under it along with shelves holding assorted piles of junk that weren't worth the effort of grabbing them and hauling them back to someone who would pay caps for them.

On the end facing the lake there was a firepit made out of a car's rim, with some logs pulled up to sit on, and off at the edge of the homestead was a garbage pit that looked disused.

"Okay." she said to herself after having did a complete circuit of the property "Where's the entrance? No one builds something like this and makes it impossible to get in and out of."

Thinking of how the Khans cached stuff, she figured that the best place to put an entrance was where you wouldn't make a lot of tracks. Which meant that the first place to look would be the lean to.

The boxes were a dead end, but she knelt down and took a close look at the shelves.

"_okay, lets take a look at these."_ she thought. _"More than enough space on these to hide a spider hole or something like that-"_

Sara's min went blank when she felt the muzzle of a shotgun tap against the nape of her neck.

"Hands up." growled a voice that she'd last heard in the Atomic Wrangler.

"Oh, for fucks sake." Sara said as a scowl formed on her face. "_You_ again?"

She heard Jaeger growl behind her and then he pressed the muzzle of the shotgun into the back of her neck.

"You again."

"Yeah, me." Sara snapped. "Now you gonna do something, or did your senile old ass forget how?"

Jaeger's molars audibly ground together at that comment. "As satisfying as it would be to shoot you, there are two reasons why I'm not." he told her in a _very_ irritated tone. "One, I don't want your brains stinking up my trailer, and two, I'm pretty sure your blue haired friend would object to that."

Sara snickered at the latter reason. "So you're afraid of Fatass." she sneered.

"I'm not afraid of her." Jaeger corrected her. "I'd rather not have her angry with me. Speaking of your friend, where is she?"

"Right behind you."

Sara would have given anal to every guy in the Khans to see Jaeger's expression when Molly spoke up. Jaeger, for his part, tried not to twitch too badly when he felt the muzzle of her gun get placed behind the back of his right ear.

"You... are very good." Jaeger told her.

"Thank you." Molly said, smiling at the compliment. "You're not too bad yourself. Now how about we both lower our guns and then you can explain why you have my partner at gunpoint."

"Fair enough." Jaeger said, lowering his shotgun as Molly did the same with her pistol.

"Thank you." Molly told him. "Now, why were you holding a shotgun to her head?"

"I found her trying to find a way into my home." Jeager said as Sara got to her feet. "I thought she was just another Khan looking for trouble, and it was when I got the drop on her that I recognized her, so I didn't shoot her."

"Thank goodness for that." Molly said. "And-"

"GAAAAAAAAHMOLLYHELPTHERE'SABIGGIANTBUGCHASINGME!" Ami screamed as she ran past the three of them, a Cazador hot on her heels.

On reflex, Molly and Jaeger had their guns up and shooting while Sara was still clearing leather, each putting five shells of buckshot and thirteen rounds of 10mm into it's thorax and head with Sara putting four rounds into it as she emptied the cylinder on her pistol.

"Okay..." Molly said, dropping the mag on her pistol as Sara pull the trigger on spent rounds "I think it's dead, kid."

"When they're coming at ya, you can't make them too dead." Sara retorted as she took a moment to find the cylinder release on her pistol.

"Fair enough." Molly said as she slapped a fresh magazine into her pistol. "You okay?" she asked Jaeger.

Jaeger finished thumbing the last round of buckshot into the tube of his sawed off and racked the slide. "I'm fine."

"Alright." Molly said, reholstering her pistol. "Now that we've killed the mutated insect, you were saying that you thought Sara was some random Khan trying to break in, right?"

"Yeah." Jaeger answered. "Then I recognized her and figured that you wouldn't want her shot."

"Well, thank you for that." Molly told him. "She's a good kid, once you get past the caustic bitchiness."

"Hey!"

"Oh, admit it, you are." Molly said.

Sara gave Molly a dark look. "In your dreams, Fatass." she said. "I'm gonna go check on your fucktoy."

Jaeger watched her go, then looked over at Molly. "Good kid, huh?" he asked.

Molly shrugged. "She's an orphan, has been since she was thirteen." she explained. "And she's a Khan. Social grace is not the sort of thing you learn in that situation."

"Hnh." Jaeger grunted. "If you say so. By the way, you've snuck up on me twice so far. How'd you learn how to do that?"

Molly gave him a coy smile. "Lot's of practice." she replied. "Lot's of practice."

"Hey, Fatass!" Sara called from around the corners of the trailers "I found your girlfriend! She ran into a tree and knocked her ass out!"

"Oh, man, not again." Molly sighed.

"This has happened before?" Jaeger asked.

Molly nodded. "Yeah. She get's to running from something and forgets to look ahead sometimes." she explained. "Last time, she ran face first into a boulder."

"How'd she fare?" he asked.

"The boulder cracked in half." Molly said as she started walking.

Oo000ooo000oO

After reviving Ami and some lunch, the three of them rested for a while until the sun wasn't directly overhead and pressed on towards their goal, walking near the shoreline with Molly and Boone keeping an eye out for Lakelurks while Sara navigated.

It was after an hour and a half that Molly's Pip Boy beeped.

"The fuck was that?" Sara asked, looking over at Molly.

"That was my Pip Boy letting me know that we're getting close to the map marker I set ." Molly explained, slinging her rifle and looking at the device on her forearm. "Specifically, the safest point that's close to the crashed B-29."

"Oh." Sara said. "I was gonna say, that shack up ahead has a Khan cache in it. Everything you'd need for the Lakelurk repellent is in there."

"And that was the point I had marked on my map." Molly said, closing the map on her Pip Boy and unslinging her rifle.

"You know about this place?" Sara asked.

Molly shrugged. "I've been by it a few times." she explained. "Crashed there once. Didn't think anybody was using it for anything."

Sara chuckled. "That's why _we_ use it, Fatass." she said. "The Lakelurks and that Cazador nest down the road a ways keep traffic from coming through here regularly."

Molly nodded, apreciating the reasons why the Khans had selected the spot. "So, what do you use it for?" she asked.

"We use it as a resting spot, source of fresh water, swimming hole." Sara explained.

"Good enough reasons." Molly said as they neared the shack.

"Damn right they are." Sara said. "Well, we're here."

"Yep." Molly said, taking a look at the position of the sun in the sky. "Lets get set up and then I'll be going for a swim." 

"I'll go get the stuff." Sara said as she dropped her pack.

Oo000ooo000oO

Sara returned shortly carrying a large and well worn leather satchel.

"Got it." she said, hefting the satchel for emphasis. "Now sit that fat ass of yours down and I'll show you how make LakeLurk repellent."

"Okay." Molly said, sitting down cross-legged near the campfire that Ami and Boone had gotten going.

Sara sat down across from her and opened up the satchel. "Okay, like I said before, it's made out of two things: Sagebrush and broc flowers."

"Right." Molly said, nodding her head.

"You make it out of fresh or dried, it works either way." Sara continued as she started taking items from the bag, glass jars and a roll of cloth. "Prep differs, though, depending on what you use."

"Obviously."

Sara held up a jar with a gray-green powder in it. "Sagebrush." she identified it. "Leaves, bark, the whole thing. We cut the leaves off and strip the bark, then smash up the sticks with a couple of rocks before drying it out over a fire."

"Okay." Molly said.

"You do that to get the sap to come out, right?" Ami asked, having been following the conversation as she worked.

"Very good." Sara said as she picked up another jar, this one with a grainy, pale green substance in it. "This is Broc Flower. We take the whole thing, smash up the stalks before drying them in the sun or over a fire, then grind them. You with me so far?"

Molly nodded.

"To make it, you mix it in a two to one ratio of sagebrush to Broc Flower." Sara continued, taking a third jar out with a tablespoon. "You mix them together in a jar and shake it real good so it mixes up nice."

She then proceeded to spoon the two ingredients together in the ratio she described before screwing the lid onto the jar and shaking it vigorously for about a minute. When she was done, Sara set the jar down and picked up the roll of cloth.

"After you're done doing that, you take a piece of cloth about yay big-" Sara pulled out a strip about double the length of an average handkerchief and tore it off "- and fold it double. Then you pour your mixture onto the middle of it and tie it off. Be sure to leave a little room at the top when you do." 

As she talked, Sara demonstrated each step to Molly, finishing with a bundle about as big as her fist.

"And there you go. Just one more thing, then you're good to go." she said, holding it up in her hand.

"What's the last bit?" asked Molly.

"You tie a cord to it, so you can keep it on you." Sara replied. "Some people wear it like a necklace, others tie it to their wrist or ankle. Me, I tie it to my waist."

"Okay." Molly said as she reached for the bundle. "I think I'll go with your method. Keep me from being off balance."

"That's why I do it." Sara said as Molly took the bundle.

Molly nodded and dug into her pack, bringing out a bundle of cord while Sara started spooning more ingredients into the mixing jar.

"Going for a swim, too?" Molly asked as she undid a length of cord.

"Fuck, yeah I am." Sara answered. "I love swimming. It's a great way to cool off."

"I imagine it is." Molly said as she tied the cord to her bundle. "Lord knows, I'm looking forward to taking a dip after walking what seems like half of the Mojave for the past couple of weeks."

"That's because you've that clunky,heavy-assed armor." Sara pointed out as she set the spoon aside and screwed the lid onto the mixing jar. "I'm surprised you haven't dropped from thirst in that get up."

Molly chuckled as she stood up. "It's actually pretty comfortable in the heat, surprisingly." she admitted as she started to unbuckle the straps "Of course, even what _you're_ wearing can get uncomfortable after a while."

Sara looked down at her jeans and vest combo and shrugged. "Still better than what you got." she countered.

"But not nearly as bulletproof." Molly said as she shrugged out of her armor. "And I don't care just how comfortable something is, catching a bullet is a hell of a lot worse."

"I hate to admit it, Fatass, but you've got a point." Sara admitted as she started to shake the jar. "Of course, that's why sneaking and cover are so important. Getting them before they can even get a shot off is the best armor of all."

"And that, kid, is where I agree with you wholeheartedly." Molly said as she dropped her armor and pulled her shirt off.

"Woo Hoo! Take it all off!" Ami catcalled from beside the fire, waving a sheaf of pre-War money.

Sara rolled her eyes as Molly snickered. "Use caps, Crazy Bitch." Sara told her.

"But you can't stuff caps into a girl's panties." Ami said in complete seriousness.

"That's what you use paper money for?" Sara asked as she finished shaking the jar and set it down. "Stuffing it into a stripper's underwear?"

"Among other things, yes." Ami answered. "It's valid all throughout the NCR."

"Well, this isn't the NCR." Sara pointed out. "Here we use caps."

Ami cocked her head to one side and looked at the Khan. "So, how does that work?" she asked. "With strippers?"

"You don't know?" Sara asked. "You, the Crazy Bitch, have never tossed caps at a stripper?"

"I've never needed to." Ami answered, somewhat confused. "I've never had any trouble picking up guys or girls before, so it's never came up."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Oh, for crying out loud- you toss the caps at the stage and stage guy gathers them up when she's done, then takes the house's cut before handing it over to the girl."

"Oh." Ami said, then a thought crossed her mind. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about this. Did you-?"

Sara shook her head. "Nah." she answered. "I've been asked a couple of times, but honestly, I prefer hooking to stripping. Lot simpler, and if you do it right, ou don't have to share your cut with anyone."

"I see..." Ami said, surprised. "Has anyone tried to-"

"Once." Sara said as she went back to preparing her repellent. "I stabbed him in the balls. After that, no one bothered me again."

"And that, Sara, is the one part of you doing that I like." Molly said as she dropped her underwear on top of her pile of clothing. "Never let yourself be pimped out. Ever."

"Don't intend to start, Fatass." Sara said as she poured the mixture onto a patch of cloth. "By the way, before you go in, you need a knife or anything?"

"I'm good." Molly said as she started rummaging around in her pack. "I got what I need in here."

"Okay." Sara said as she started to tie the cloth together. "Just checking."

"Thanks."

Oo000ooo000oO

A few minutes later, Molly had everything she was going to need for her little swim: The lifting bags in a sealed bag, her sheath knife and the bag of repellent affixed to a web belt she had picked up, and the rebreather.

After a good luck slap on her ass by Ami, she walked down to the end of the pier, turned around, and calmly fell backwards into the cool, clear, waters of Lake Meade. Her vision blurred as she went into the water, her eyes filled with a silvery blur of bubbles and light.

She blinked a couple of times, and then she saw above her the sky rippling and shifting from the water, framed by the last of the bubbles from her backwards plunge floated up to the surface. Molly stayed there for a moment, slowly drifting to the bottom from the weight of the bag slung across her back as she took it all in.

"_I'd forgotten just what its like..."_ she thought as her intake of breath bubbled through the rebreather.

"_Just realized how much I missed swimming in the pool."_

Her breath exhaled in a column of bubbles floating up towards the surface as she flipped herself over in the water and adjusted the position of the bag so it was hanging below her.

"_The damn bag's gonna be dragging on me._" she thought sourly. _"Wish I could have cobbled together some swim fins, but then I'd have to have a cover story on why I know about them..."_

Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts, Molly began swimming.

Oo000ooo000oO

"And I'm done." Sara said as she cinched the last knot tight on her bag of repellent. "Time for a swim."

Ami watched as Sara started to pull off her boots. "Is swimming fun?" she asked.

Sara looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head. "Of course it is. Why else would I do it?" Sara asked rhetorically. "Haven't you ever gone swimming?"

Ami shook her head. "All the places you could swim in had Lakelurks in them." she said. "Not safe, unless you wanted to get ate."

"Well, that makes sense." Sara said as she pulled off her other boot.

"There was this stream I used to splash around in, though." Ami continued as Sara stood up.. "One time, me and a couple of the neighbor boys, and a couple of their friends went up there and I took turns with them."

Sara stopped unbuckling her gunbelt and looked up at Ami. "You just don't have any limits, do you?" she asked.

"What?" Ami asked defensively. "I used protection."

Sara just shook her head and finished unbuckling her gunbelt, dropping it on the ground next to her boots.

"Anyways-" Ami continued on nonplussed as Sara unzipped her jeans "As I was saying, I never really learned how to swim."

"That sucks." Sara said as she dropped her jeans to the ground and stepped out of them.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to _teach_ me, would you?" Ami asked.

Sara thought about it for a second as she shrugged off her vest. "Sure, why not." she said.

"Oh, thank you!" Ami said happily, clapping her hands together. "You do actually like me!"

Sara laughed as she dropped her vest onto her jeans. "Why would you think that, Crazy Bitch?" she asked.

Ami chewed on her lip for a second before answering "Well, there's nickname you use..." she began.

"I call you as I see ya." Sara countered as she slipped out of her panties. "Admit it, you're kind of crazy."

Ami conceded Sara's point with a nod. "Okay." she admitted. "There's all of the yelling and screaming..."

"I'm a caustic bitch." Sara pointed out. "I'm an orphan Khan girl who's been raped a couple of times and gotten the shit beat out of her a lot. You have to have a bad attitude to survive.

Look, if I had a problem with ya, I would have just shot ya."

"Oh." Ami said. "So you actually _like_ Molly?" she asked.

Sara gritted her teeth and nodded. "Yeah." she admitted. "It took a while, but she's grown on me. She's stood by me and put up with waaaay too much of my crap for me to not like her."

"Good!" Ami said, smiling.

"That, and she'd get me long before I could ever get her." Sara added. "Bitch is fucking terrifying."

"Only when you're not on her side." Ami pointed out.

"Tell me about it." Sara muttered and shivered. "Scoot and Coop never stood a chance..."

"Huh?" Ami asked.

"Nothing." Sara told her. "Strip down, I'll make you a repellent bag."

"Oh, okay." Ami said as she stood up. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Oo000ooo000oO

"_-and as good as the stuff is, it's still peanuts compared to the Mark II Advanced. Having a built-in air conditioning system is a definite plus-"_

Molly's mental ruminations on the merits of various types of armor was cut short when she saw a rounded shape start to form up ahead of her in the gloom of the lake bottom. She paused in her swimming to check her Pip Boy's map.

According to it's map, she was almost on top of the plane's location. Shrugging to herself, she unslung the bag from her shoulder and kicked her feet, edging her towards the shape. The closer she came, the more defined the shape became until she found herself nose to nose with a B-29-100-BW Superfortress.

"Hey, there." Molly told it through her mask. "Don't mind me. I'm just a fellow old soldier, here to make sure you don't fade away."

Giving the plane as crisp as a salute she could underwater, Molly set to work.

Oo000ooo000oO

END.


	25. Chapter 26

Echoes of Eras Past

Oo000ooo000oO

Chapter Twenty Six

Oo000ooo000oO

Bracing her feet against the wing, Molly cinched the ballast strap as tight as she could. Satisfied that it was secure, she pushed off the wing and swam upwards until she had a good view of the bomber.

_"Okay, the ballast has been secured, everything is tightened down, and all of the connections are good."_ she thought as she mentally went over the checklist of what you had to do to secure inflatable ballast to a sunken airplane. _"All that's left is to release the bu__o__y and swim back to shore."_

Flipping herself so she was facing heads- down, Molly swam down to the starboard wing root where she had fastened the ballast. Reaching into the bag, she pulled out the receiver buoy and it's spool of very thin wire. Making sure that it was clear of the wing, she pulled the pull cord on the buoy and it's attached balloon inflated with a hiss of released gas.

Molly released the buoy and held onto the spool, making sure that it unwound smoothly as the buoy ascended to the surface. When the wire stopped, she pulled a couple of arm lengths extra off so it had some slack, then stuffed the spool back in the ballast bag.

Taking a moment to access her Pip Boy's navigational suite, Molly got herself oriented in the right direction and began swimming.

Oo000ooo000oO

"Now you're getting' it." Sara said as she tread water while she coached Ami on how to swim. "Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be okay."

Ami would have said something back, but didn't for two reasons: One, she was doing a freestyle stroke and wasn't really in a position to able to talk and swim without getting a lung full of water, and two, she was concentrating on keeping her arms and legs going in the proper rhythm for doing the freestyle stroke.

Sara heard the water next to her bubble and she looked over in time to see Molly surface from the depths of Lake Meade.

"Hey, Fatass." Sara greeted her. "How was your swim?"

"Uneventful." replied Molly after she pulled the re-breather off. "I didn't know that Ami knew how to swim."

"She does now." Sara told her, and checked back on her student to see that Ami had managed to swim a good distance away. "Hey! Crazy Bitch! You're too far out, turn it around!"

In the distance Molly saw Ami stop, turn around, spot her, yelp something that sounded like her name, and started swimming at them full bore.

"Not bad for a first time swimmer." Molly observed as Ami came at them like a torpedo. "You taught her well."

"I think that's just because she saw you." Sara replied. "I'm more worried about whether or not she knows how to stop in time."

"Well, it looks like we're going to find out." Molly said as Ami closed in on them.

As it turned out, she didn't know how to stop as she crashed into Molly and sending them both backwards while leaving Sara sputtering from being splashed by a face full of water.

"Molly! Molly! Molly! Molly!" Ami chanted as Molly struggled to keep them both from sinking. "Did you find it?"

"Yes, Ami, I did." Molly told her. "And while I would normally not mind you glomping on to me, I can't keep us both afloat."

Ami blinked as she realized just what kind of predicament that she had put herself and her girlfriend in.

"Oh." she said as she let go, a trace of disappointment in her voice. "Sorry, Molly."

"It's okay." Molly reassured her. "We can snuggle when we get back onshore."

"Yaaay!" Ami cheered.

Ami then turned to ask Sara something, only to get splashed in the face by her.

"Ha! Now we're even." Sara crowed to the now Ami.

"What did I do?" Ami asked, bewildered how things had taken a ninety degree turn on her.

"You splashed me in the face when you swam up here." Sara informed her. "I was just paying you back."

"Oh." Ami said.

Then she splashed Sara back.

Shock spread across Sara's face as she stared at Ami, who gave her a goofy grin. "Got ya!" she said.

"Oh, you little-" Sara sputtered, then splashed Ami back.

Ami shrieked as she got splashed, then responded in kind. Sara responded, and then it went downhill from there as it descended into a full on splash fight. Molly watched the two of them splash at each other for a minute or two, then a grin lit her face as an idea occurred to her.

Putting the re-breather back on, Molly quietly sank beneath the waves unnoticed by the other two. Once submerged, she was able to see what the splash fight looked like from beneath the surface: A flurry of kicking legs stirring up a small maelstrom of bubbles, with the shrieks of the two of them distorted by the water mixed in with the _slap_ of their hands on the water.

It was easy to figure out who was who, under the water, even though it didn't really matter with what she planned on doing: Ami was the kicking pair of white legs with the occasional flash of purple showing that the carpet _did_ match the drapes while Sara was the dark tan legs with a flash of black.

Kicking her way forward, Molly swam to where she was just underneath them, close enough so that she was within arm's reach, but far enough away that she wouldn't get kicked by an errant foot. Staying there, she waited for the right moment.

That moment wasn't long in coming. The splashing and shrieking died down and they quit kicking and thrashing. She heard Sara start to ask where the Fatass went, and Molly knew it was her chance. Kicking her way upwards, she reached up and slapped a hand on each of their asses, giving them each a good squeeze as she did so.

Ami's rear was it's perfect mix of tight and perky mixed with just the right amount of jiggle, while Sara's was surprisingly firm and toned. Above her, there were twin outraged shrieks as both of them rose up in the water. Kicking away from them, Molly surfaced well out of splashing distance.

"I win." she told them after yanking off the re-breather, grinning triumphantly.

Sara looked at her for a second, then glanced at Ami.

"Truce?" she asked, nodding her head at Molly.

"Truce." Ami agreed.

"Uh oh.'' Molly said as the both of them started swimming towards her.

Oo000ooo000oO

Molly beat them back to the shore, climbing onto the pier as Sara and Ami came swimming up.

"I win again."" she announced as she drained the re-breather out, having not put it back into place before she started swimming back.

Sara's response was swipe her arm at the water, sending an arc of water splashing into Molly. She looked down and sighed.

"Okay, you got me." Molly admitted.

"Ha!" Sara crowed. "I finally got you, Fatass!"

Molly chuckled and stretched. "Yes, you did." she said. "Anyways, I was going to ask, you guys hungry? All that swimming worked up an appetite."

"Fuck yeah, I'm hungry." Sara said. "How about you, Crazy Bitch?"

"Huh?" Ami asked, having been distracted by Molly stretching.

"Are you hungry?" Sara repeated the question "For food, not pussy."

Ami blinked and shook her head. "Oh, yeah." she said. "Yeah, I'm hungry."

"Ah, good." Molly said. "You two climb on out. I'll go rustle up something to eat."

While Molly headed off to the campsite, Sara and Ami climbed out of the water onto the pier. Sitting on the edge of the pier, Sara untied the repellent bundle from around her waist and Ami did the same.

"By the way, you did good with the swimming." Sara told her as she untied the cloth bundle from the cord.

"I did?" Ami asked. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Sara told her. "By the way, you'll want to untie and empty out your little bundle when you're done."

"How come?" Ami asked as she started to untie the cord around her waist.

"That's so you can reuse the cloth and cord." Sara answered.

"Oh."

Getting her bundle untied, Sara unrolled it and dumped the sodden lump of plant matter into the water, shaking it a couple of times to remove the crumbs.

"I don't know you, but I think I know what I'm doing after I eat." Sara told Ami as she stood up.

"What's that?" Ami asked as she picked a knot loose with her finger.

"I'm just gonna lie back and get some sun." Sara told her. "You ever do that?"

"Oh, lots of times." Ami replied. "I don't know if I'm going to be able to join you-it depends on what Molly want's to do."

"Ah."

Oo000ooo000oO

"Hey, Boone." Molly said to Boone as she walked up to the camp.

"Molly." he replied, pointedly taking pains to not look at her from the neck down.

"You know, Boone, you've seen me naked before." Molly pointed out as she dropped the re-breather on the ground and dug into her pack. "There's no need to be bashful."

"I don't think it's right, to ogle a woman when she's naked." Boone countered.

"Boone, you're not doing anything wrong." Molly explained as she pulled out the detonator that Loyal had given her. "You're not being a peeping Tom. You're out where I can see you, I _know_ you're there, and I don't care that you can see me naked. Hell, I don't think anyone in the party with that except you."

Boone grunted in reply. Molly meanwhile, stood up, armed the detonator, and pulled the trigger.

"It didn't work." Boone commented, changing the subject.

"Oh, it did." Molly told him as she tossed the detonator aside. "It's just gonna take a minute before it surfaces. I was gonna make something to eat. You hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then, that makes the vote unanimous." Molly said as she turned and headed for where Suzanne was tethered.

"Aren't you going to put some clothes on first?" Boone asked from behind her.

"Nope." Molly answered him. "I want to dry off."

"Oh."

Oo000ooo000oO

After everyone had ate, they had a small council on what to do next. After some discussion, they decided that they would spend the rest of the day there by the lake and head back in the morning.

The meeting adjourned shortly afterward when Ami grabbed Molly and drug her off to the shack for some "private time".

"Hey." Sara said as she came up to where Boone was seated on a rock.

"Hey."

The silence following their brief interaction stretched on, heavy as an anvil, until Sara spoke again.

"Decided to be upwind so you didn't have to hear Fatass and her girlfriend fuck, huh?" she asked.

"Yup."

Sara frowned, took a deep breath, and exhaled noisily.

"You know, you're real conversational today, you know that?" she asked rhetorically.

"Don't feel like talking." Boone answered.

"Why?" Sara asked, pressing the issue.

"Because I was uncomfortable."

Sara arched an eyebrow at him. "You know, most guys would have been falling all over themselves to be around a bunch of naked women."

"I'm not most guys." Boone countered.

"I noticed." Sara shot back. "Just what _is_ your problem, anyways?"

Boone gave an irritated grunt and stood up.

"Don't think you can walk away from this." Sara told him. "I got nothing better to do. I'll follow your grumpy ass around."

"Really?" Boone asked, turning to face her and almost averting his gaze before realizing that she was dressed.

"Yeah." Sara told him. "It's either this, or lay around the camp and listen to Fatass and her girlfriend have screaming orgasm after screaming orgasm."

Boone blanched at that thought and quickly shifted gears. "Okay, that makes sense." he said.

"Told ya." Sara said. "Anyways, so what's your problem?"

Boone took a long, deep, breath and slowly let it out as he gathered his thoughts. "If you must know, I don't think that it would be fair to the memory of my wife, and the Wasteland has punished me enough-"

"Boone." Sara interrupted him. "I get you feel guilty for what happened- it was a pretty shitty thing to do. And as someone who was there- it ain't your fault."

Boone looked up at her in surprise as Sara plowed on. "We're Khan's. There _are_ _no noncombatants_ in a Khan village. All those women and children that got shot? They would have put a bullet in your ass if you gave them half a chance.

And as for what happened to your wife- her getting kidnapped wasn't your fault. It was that bitch that Fatass helped you cap that did it. And dwelling on is not gonna do you any good."

Boone narrowed his eyes at her. "And how do you know that?" he asked.

Sara arched an eyebrow at him and cocked her hip defiantly. "You're not the only one whose had shitty things happen to them, big guy." she pointed out. "Remember, in that week before the massacre my parents had gotten killed and I got raped for the _first _time. Staying stuck in the past isn't gonna bring my parent's back or stop Scrapper and his guys holding me down and running a train on me.

Here's a piece of advice my dad told me: If bad shit happens to you and it don't kill ya, ya get back up, dust yourself off, _and keep going_. And if you run into whatever or whoever fucked your shit up again, make 'em regret it."

"What do you I have been doing?" Boone asked.

Sara shrugged. "Going through the motions, mostly." she answered. "You're either glowering in the corner, shooting Legion, or sulking about how things went to shit a while back. I _can_ tell you what you're not doing."

"And that is?" Boone asked.

"Living." Sara told him.

"You're one to talk." Boone pointed out to her. "What do you think you've been doing?"

"Living." Sara answered. "I live. I usually don't know what the hell I'm gonna be doing the next day, but I know what I'm doing that day. When the sun rises, my goal is to beat whatever the Wasteland throws at me, and to get a leg up however I can.

When I went with Jesup, it was because there was caps in it. If I blow a guy in an old house somewhere, it's because I'm gonna come out ahead in some way. And that's one of the reasons why I'm sticking with Fatass, because I'm getting, guns, gear, food, and safety. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." Boone said after a moment's reflection. "But do you know how I can move on?"

Sara shrugged and pointed off to the ridge in the distance. "Bitter Springs is over there." she said. "Maybe when we get this thing done we can go there and find some answers. Who knows." 

"Okay." Boone said. "Let's try that."

Oo000ooo000oO

Their trip back was, thankfully, uneventful. Though when they got back to Nellis they did see a party of Boomers outside the fence digging with shovels.

"What's up with that?" Molly asked the Boomer on duty at the gate, jerking her thumb at the crew digging.

"Huh?" the guard asked, looking over at the crew. "Oh. That. A couple of Legion were trying to sneak in. One of the 81mm crews tagged them."

"Ah." Molly said. "Good work."

"I'll pass that along to the sentries and the mortar crew." the guard said. "By the way, Pearl's wanting to talk to you."

"I imagine she is." Molly said.

Leaving the gate behind, Molly split off from the rest of the party and headed for Pearl's barracks. When she got there Raquel was waiting for her.

"Mother Pearl would like to speak-" she began.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Molly interrupted her. "Your guy at the gate told me already. He also told me how you guys picked off that Legion patrol."

"Did he." Raquel said.

"Yeah." Molly continued. "Good work."

"Thank you." Raquel said.

Molly nodded and mounted the steps to Pearl's barracks. "Anyways, I gotta go talk to your boss."

"Go ahead, outsider." Raquel told her. "We can talk later."

"See ya."

Climbing the steps, Molly knocked on the door as Raquel walked away.

"Come in." Pearl's voice said from within.

Opening the door, she stepped inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darker interior of the barracks, but when they did she saw that both Pearl and Loyal were standing in the living room.

"Hello, outsider." Pearl began. "Loyal tells me that the locator beacon on the ballast has activated. I assume that, coupled with your return means that you were successful?"

Molly nodded. "Yeah." she said. "It was a hell of a swim, but I was able to get it done."

Loyal nodded. "I take it that the re-breather that Jack made worked?" he asked.

"Like a charm." Molly told him. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. How are you gonna get that thing over here?"

"I sent some of our robots out to retrieve it." answered Loyal.

"I see." Molly said, then turned her attention to Pearl. "I assume that's what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.

"That was one of the things I wished to discuss with you, yes." Pearl answered. "The other is something I wish to talk to you about alone..."

"And that's my cue to leave." Loyal said as he turned to face the door. "I got a lot to do, what with the impending arrival of the Lady and all..."

Pearl waited until the door had closed behind him before continuing.

"Okay." Molly said. "We're alone. What is it?"

Pearl took a breath before she spoke. "When you first came to us, outsider, I was questioning of your motives, especially considering _how_ you arrived."

The corner of Molly's mouth quirked up into a smile as she recalled her sneaking up on Raquel as she stood at her post.

"But, your subsequent actions, along with those of your companions, have proven that your intentions towards us are good. What you and your companions have did are nothing short of miracles, child, and if there is anything we can do for you, all you have to do is ask."

"Well, thank you, Pearl." Molly said with a smile. "I'm glad we were able to help."

Pearl nodded as Molly stretched, the vertebra in her back popping audibly.

"Anyways, I'm gonna get back to my people." she said. "We were gonna camp here for the night and head back to New Vegas in the morning. We got some stuff to take care of there, and I was hoping to have quality time with my girlfriend."

Pearl chuckled quietly and a slight smile creased her face. "The purple haired girl?"

"Ami? Yeah." Molly answered with a nod. "You don't have a problem with the fact that she and I are an item?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, not at all. At least I don't." she said. "There were some among us who had an issue with it, but your actions have silenced their complaints."

"oh. Glad to hear it." Molly said.

"It's a legacy from when we were in the Vault." Pearl continued. "The Vault's survival depended on your pairing up and having children, so those of us who were... of a _different_ type learned to put those feelings aside or just stayed single."

The way that Pearl said that statement tickled something in Molly's brain and she arched an eyebrow as she gave the tribal matriarch a questioning look.

"You're..." Molly asked.

Pearl nodded. "Yes." she said. "If I was thirty years younger, I wouldn't have minded having a go with you."

"Oh." Molly said, surprised. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Pearl told her.

"So you, ah, stayed single I take it?" Molly asked.

Pearl nodded. "Yes." she said. "I was never able to find someone who could reciprocate my feelings, and then I became leader, and I've had my hands full with that ever since."

"Ah."

Pearl sighed and gave a wistful smile. "Anyways, there's no need to listen to n old woman ramble about her past. Go rest, you and your companions have earned it."

"Thank you." Molly told her. "It was nice talking with you."

"Likewise, child." Pearl said.

Exiting Pearl's barracks, Molly stopped at the bottom of the stairs and sighed.

_"Thirty years ago I wouldn't have minded running into her either."_ she thought. _"Might have saved me a bit of trouble later on down the road. __Of course, I wouldn't have met Ami, so I can't really complain, _can _I?__"_

Oo000ooo000oO

END.


End file.
